Albus Potter and the Dragon's Scale
by totallybritishotaku
Summary: The Battle of Hogwarts took place 19 years ago, and the Golden Trio's children join Hogwarts. While everything seems to be fun and games at first, with amazing friends and exciting adventures, a dark secret lies in the Wizarding World. Will the new Golden Trio be able to stop it, or will everyone perish at the hands of this new threat?
1. Diagon Alley

Chapter One: Diagon Alley

"Daddy!" Scorpius yelled from the other side of Diagon Alley. Draco absolutely _hated_ shopping at this, this peasant's market. He would rather order everything from the Malfoy's trusted Ministry insiders, who could easily get them all the Scorpius needed, including a wand that could outlast the ones made at Ollivander's, but Astoria convinced him to take Scorpius to Diagon Alley, where he could "make friends".

Draco stood in his absolutely amazing tie, looking completely unlike the people around him. It was easy to tell who was muggle-born and who was pure blood. Most of the crowd was dressed in the classic wizarding clothes, robes of assorted colors. In fact, one specific child, his own, pranced around in Draco's old Slytherin robes, the ones that he didn't want his son to have. Hand-me-downs weren't something that the Malfoys should stand for, but Astoria was a good person; she had a positive thought of Muggles and a negative thought on caste systems, although she used to be similar to the Malfoys. Astoria persisted in making sure that Scorpius could live a regular life; the life of a person of regular caste, although really, Draco knew what was really on her mind.

Astoria and his parents never got along, but the Greengrass family was always respected for being kind donors to the wizarding world, and she believed that it was her duty to pass that legacy along to Scorpius. Draco always snorted at the idea of Scorpius being like that, but there was nothing he could do. Plus, he enjoyed the idea of an adventure, with Scorpius becoming sort of a Muggle-supporter.

"Daddy, look!" Draco's son yelled once more. "Daddy, I got a chocolate frog!" Scorpius ran to him, holding a little box, the newer editions of chocolate frogs. Draco smiled at the thought of the candies that he ate as a child, now passed on to his son. Generations were important, but for some reason, today meant so much to Draco.

"Good job, Scorpius!" Draco beamed. He actually did enjoy the idea of his son being regular. _Yes, this is nice. Scorpius might become almost as successful as many of his predecessors,_ thought Draco. "Where did you get the frog from?"

"My new friend, Al!" Scorpius replied. Draco saw something in his son. He was able to become more friendly, social, and amazingly joyful in only eleven years. Slowly, quite slowly, he sunk in the fact that Scorpius had made a new friend, Al.

 _Al… where do I know that name from?_ Draco asked himself. He pondered it for some time before Astoria nudged him.

"Draco! Give him the… _you-know-what_!" She whispered in his ear. Draco was so engulfed in his thoughts that he forgot about the other things going on at the moment. Slowly, he sunk in what Astoria had said and realized what was going on.

"Ah, yes, young Scorpius!" he joyfully gleamed. Draco reached into his inner pocket, on the right, and pulled out a long box. Scorpius suddenly grew serious. He was speechless; Draco felt sad. His father used to trick him using suprises, making him feel special before opening it and realizing that this was just another reason for him to stay away from his father. The only thing his father did for him was spoil him. He was never able to do anything on his own.

"Is… is that… what I think it is?" Scorpius slowly muttered. Draco nodded, and handed Scorpius the box, which was wrapped in silver-and-green wrapping paper. The family assistant had helped to pick out the wrapping paper, but the wand was Ollivander's, and it was polished to the core . The young boy ripped it open and pulled out a black casing. When it opened, he saw, surrounded by the velvet of Ollivander's that was as soft as a unicorn's mane, and Scorpius lifted the wooden wand out of the casing. A tear rolled down his son's cheek as he whispered things like "oh my god" or "this is crazy".

Draco closed the casing and hugged Scorpius as tight as he could. Astoria hugged the two of them. As Scorpius started fidgeting, Draco let go, and was now wrapped in the arms of Astoria.

"Thank you, Dad." Scorpius cried. "I won't let you down."

"I know you won't. Make me proud."

The two both looked away, because that was their relationship. They spoke in small whispers, but loved each other like snakes love their children. Scorpius ran off.

"Al… I'm so glad that Scorpius is finally becoming better friends with the Potter children." Astoria said. Draco froze. It had been 19 years since he last heard the name of that… that _Potter._ And now he had to endure a terrible fate. _Not if_ I _can help it!_ thought Draco. He ran off, trailing Scorpius, hearing Astoria's cries, but knew that his legs from being a Seeker would help him catch up to his son before he would become acquainted with the Potter boy. Draco took a right turn, but regretted it, as he landed in the Leaky Cauldron, the place for all the lower-caste wizards. He frantically spun around, searching for Scorpius.

"Malfoy!" A voice yelled behind him.

Draco heard the voice. He turned around and saw _him_ , the "Boy Who Lived", with the "amazing life story". Here he was, standing next to the young Weasley girl. And for some odd reason, _he smiled_.

"Well, well. If it isn't the Potter boy." Draco greeted Potter after 19 years. "It's truly been far too long. Then again, I hated your presence. No matter where you were, something bad followed."

"That was just for you, Malfoy. And plus, be a bit more kind to me, it's not like you want to set a bad example for your son, _do you_?" Potter said. Draco felt heat rising to his head. It was like Potter was using Draco's old comebacks against him.

"Oi, little cry baby, I suggest that you stop going into territory that isn't yours." Draco snarled back. "You might faint in front of your girlfriend. Remember I am psychic, predicting that you are the Weasley girl would get married." Potter and Ginny, the Weasley girl, laughed as Draco slowly grinned. Potter and Draco might have been rivals at school, but definitely gotten closer, since the time they last saw each other.

"So, how old are you children now?" Draco asked him. "This is my son's first year." Scorpius's face came into Draco's mind. His son was beaming, and he loved him for it.

"I've got three children. The one who Ginny's with is Lily, and our oldest is James, but it's Albus's first year too." Potter chuckled. "Let's hope our kids don't end up like me, Hermione, and Ron. We had our share of mischief, we did." Draco chuckled along with him. He thought of the Inquisitorial Squad, appointed by Umbridge, the worst woman that Hogwarts had ever seen. Of course, she did put trust in the Malfoys, but he wasn't too fond of her anymore. Her Muggle abuse was completely against what Astoria believed in, resulting in angering her and Draco. Draco loved her more than many things, so definitely, her opinions deserved to be honored by him, so Umbridge isn't taken nicely in the family.

"My only son, Scorpius, is going to have to get the best education in order to become another successful Malfoy." Draco said. "Not to brag, but isn't Hogwarts the best? Definitely the place to send him." Potter smiled at him. Draco smiled back, but there was something on his mind. He felt something in his stomach spin. He felt like there was a reason for what he was doing here, in the Leaky Cauldron. _Oh yes, to get rid of the Potter boy's friendship with young Scorpius,_ Draco reminded himself. _But what was his name?_

"There's Al! He's the one who's going to Hogwarts this year!" Potter exclaimed. Draco turned around to see a boy, about as tall as Scorpius, sitting at another table. He was with a boy his age, with hair that was light blonde, wearing rich, black robes. _That's… that's not…._

"Daddy!" Scorpius yelled from the table. Al Potter. Scorpius Malfoy. Sitting at a table. Together. Rage swirled in Draco's head as he realized that his son was best friends with the disgusting _Potter boy_.

"YOUR son? Your son is Scorpius?" Potter exclaimed. Draco's hatred swirled inside his body almost as quickly as it used to. Draco tried to calm down. A proper banker has to be able to deal with _anyone_. Even the most raggedy Weasley or messiest Potter has to be dealt with. Slowly, Draco let in the fact that his son was going to be hanging around the Potter boy more often, and soon, might be as strange as them. Draco's mind came back to the present when he heard Astoria's voice.

"Draco! Where are you, love?" She asked in her sweet voice. He saw her searching around, and beckoned for her to come over. As she neared, Ginny and Astoria's eyes locked, as the two caught up the same way he and Potter had caught up minutes ago. Astoria obviously didn't see their two sons hanging together, drinking butterbeers and juices. _Butterbeer_ , thought Draco when he realized his son was gulping it down, drinking it like Draco drank beer with Crabbe and Goyle. He felt like sneering. Butterbeer was definitely something a proper Malfoy boy wouldn't drink until at least mid-way through their age of eleven. That was when the Hogsmeade trip would come around, so Scorpius would have been covered. But the Potters had to mess up the whole system and plan.

"Scorpius, get your arse over here!" Draco yelled. Scorpius, who was giggling one moment, snapped his head to his father, and was about to get up when a man ran over to both Al and Scorpius, and screeched " _Dolorem!_ ", then sprinted off and out the door, while their sons rolled on the ground screaming. Draco and Potter, still with quick reflexes from the Battle of Hogwarts, and sat down next to their young sons while the mothers screamed.

The rest happened very quickly. Draco and Potter pulled out their wands and sprinted after the man who had cast a spell on their sons, while Ginny and Astoria ran over to the children to mend to them. The man took a corner, his robe showing the way for Draco and Potter. They followed him, taking rights and left, until they reached a small, confined area where the man was cornered. He was sweating, and before he could utter a sound, Draco and Potter aimed their wands and yelled, "Wingardium Leviosa!". The man rose into the air, and was held upside down.

Draco grabbed the man's hair and punched him in the face. The main screamed as his nose trickled with blood. Potter came and punched him the same way. The two men were too mad to notice that a crowd had formed behind him, including some of their own old friends, like Hannah Abbott, George Weasley, and Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, who were married. They all had to pull Draco and Potter away from the man before they broke his skull.

"What's wrong, Harry?" Weasley asked Potter, while he AND Granger had to hold Potter back, while Abbott and George held Draco away from the man.

"Please… help me…" the man pleaded. Draco spat on the ground. He couldn't believe that someone as dirty as him could ask people for help. "Please… they made me… I'm sorry Draco…"

Draco got a closer look at the man, and noticed slight glowing, which got brighter and brighter. Once it was absolutely bright, the light died out, and Pansy Parkinson was left, crying. Her nose was swollen and bleeding, and she has a black eye. Draco stopped trying to fight of George and Abbott. Potter was still trying to get rid of their restrain on him, but Draco was too busy proccessing everything that happened.

Pansy Parkinson, the girl he _used_ to love, who he always talked to, hung out with, and now she was attacking his son. Hatred rose to his head, and George and Abbott let him go. He ran to Parkinson and slapped her face. She was crying, asking him to stop, but Draco was angry. He heard Scorpius's scream in his head, the first time his son ever felt pain like that. Draco felt tears rolling like boulders down a mountain on his sweaty face. This was _NOT_ happening. Draco could no longer hear her voice, see her, or anything. He stopped hitting her and dropped onto his knees. Pansy had attacked his son, and Potter's too. Now the Potters would blame Draco, and his son would, too.

"Draco…" Hermione had said in his ear. Draco turned around and saw all the people staring at him. "It'll be fine, Draco. Just calm down." Her voice was almost hypnotizing, making him feel like everything would be alright. She finally whispered, "Your son is fine, just… sleep…"

Draco felt his eyes close as he heard Scorpius's voice scream once more.

* * *

He woke up in St. Mungo's Hospital, and saw Astoria sleeping next to him, kneeling over him, her eyes closed and her face moist with tears. Scorpius was sleeping in a bed over, and the Potter boy the one after that. Draco looked farther down the hall, and saw Potter and the Weasley girl in the same stance, Potter's wife kneeling over him, but could not see her face.

"Draco…" Astoria mumbled half-asleep. "Draco, go back to sleep! It's five in the morning! You'll hurt yourself…" Astoria went back to sleep. Draco smiled. She never thought of anyone but herself. She was selfless, cared for everyone, and always brought a smile to Draco and Scorpius's face. Draco stood up, and put the pillow underneath Astoria's head. He walked over to Scorpius and kneeled by his bed.

"Scorpius, if you can hear me…" Draco tried to think of something that would make Scorpius laugh. Something like a dad joke. Draco thought up the perfect joke. "It's a perfect learning opportunity. The spell, _Dolorem_ , is a spell that takes the nerves of the person on the receiving end a pain feeling in their brain, so they are feeling it, but not really getting hurt. It can have serious effects, though, on the brain. If someone who was crazy powerful got a hold of it, they could kill people. Luckily, the most cruddy witch in the history of the world was the one who was casting the spell. When you go to Hogwarts, you'll learn about an anti-spell for it. I've mastered it, so I could help you learn it over the Christmas break."

A smile spread across Scorpius's face. Draco wondered whether Scorpius was hearing what he was saying, or thinking about something. All he knew was that somehow, someway, he would make sure that Pansy paid for what she did. Footsteps clamped down the hall as Draco rushed back to his bed, hurting the left side of his stomach, and leaping onto the bed just before Pansy walked in. She went to Draco's side. Draco closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep.

"I'm here my love." Pansy said. "I'm here to make sure that those nasty Potters and Weasleys don't ruin you." Draco felt like snickering. Here she was, thinking he loved her. He doesn't, and never will. What really ticked off Draco was when Pansy pushed Astoria off the bed, and Astoria hit her head on the floor. "Don't see how an ugly wrench like her could get married to a handsome man like you."

Draco leapt off the bed and shoved Pansy onto the floor. Everyone, except the kids, woke with a start, and it was only then that Draco noticed the other people there, like Ron and George Weasley, Granger, their kids, Rose and Hugo, and Potter's other two kids, Lily and James. They all walked over to him and saw Pansy, lying on the ground, clutching her cheek, which Draco had punched earlier.

"Go die you piece of-"

"ENOUGH ALREADY!" Granger yelled. The two boys, who were still asleep, began to stir, but were still sleeping. "Pansy, you appear to have forgotten the deal we made, about you staying away from Malfoy. And Draco, what provoked you to attack her when she came in?"

"She called Astoria an ugly wrench and pushed her on the floor," Draco said, "and then I realized that she had a little mix-up on which ugly wrench deserved not to get married, and pushed Parkinson here on the ground." Pansy had tears in her eyes. She was completely blinded by love, and Astoria had her mouth open in shock.

"Pansy, please, leave the premises. As a Ministry Worker, I will ensure that there is a long report on your abuse to children and rule-breaking, so if a ban is put on your wands and/or you never talk to Draco again, understand this is completely on you." Granger strictly said. Parkinson leaped to her feet and ran toward Draco, who ran to the side of Scorpius's bed.

"Get away, Parkinson!" He yelled at Pansy as she ran to him. "You just tried to kill my son, why would I come with YOU?!" Pansy started to smile, then laugh. Then, she started to cackle, as everyone stared at her like she was a pyscho. Draco stared at her with the most appropriate look he could muster. Draco's head hurt almost as much as it did when Granger punched him in their third year (which he remembered PERFECTLY). The bandages on his head were not bloody, so how he got hurt, Draco can't figure out. Slowly, his mind came back to the situation at hand. He searched his robes for his wand, grasped it, and then whipped it out and pointed it at her. "ANSWER MY QUESTION!"

"The Dark Lord, Draco." Pansy spat out. Everyone in the room silenced. The Dark Lord, who many had sacrificed their lives to silence, was _back_. Potter made a fear-filled face, and closed his mouth, which shivered with fear. Draco couldn't believe this. There was no way that the Dark Lord was back. They had seen him die, suffer at the hands of Potter, right in front of their eyes. They made _sure he was dead_. Parkinson cackled before Granger took her own wand out and screamed " _Alohamora!_ " and Parkinson stopped laughing, and screamed as a whisp of smoke came out, and she fainted onto the ground.

"What… what just happened…" Draco said, simply to break the silence. Granger took out a small glass container and collected the smoke, and then shut it tight. Parkinson was on the ground, with a look of horror on her face, before she shivered and woke with a start. She began to whip her head around, looking like she did not know where she was.

"Someone had put in a Whisper to control her." Granger said. By the look of confusion on everyone's face, she sighed and continued with her explanation. "It's a new way for the last remaining Death Eaters to get people to do their bidding. Parkinson here was obviously on her way to the Leaky Cauldron to get a cuppa before someone snatched her into another street. I saw it, and was going to say something before I was knocked out by someone. When I awoke, Harry and Malfoy were chasing her, or at least, Death-Eater-Controlled Parkinson. She had Polyjuice Potion, but it seems like someone had given her more of a short-lasting potion. She had been under the control of the Death Eaters, so she was not in her own control. Plus, it had to be someone who we knew closely that did this, because no one else knew about her crush for Malfoy." Parkinson glared at her for the last one, and then looked at Astoria. She seemed to be completely confused, but at least got a little bit of the picture. Draco, meanwhile, was breathing fast.

"So… the Dark Lord is back?" Draco asked slowly. Granger smiled when she heard him say this. Draco hoped this meant that it was a ridiculous question to ask, and luckily, he was right.

"No, no, it's not like that, Malfoy." She said. "The Death Eaters are the ones who were simply blinded by the fact that they have only a terrible life to lead. Many of them are still on runaway, but the important ones are either suffering in Azkaban or deep in the ground. It's nothing dangerous. Plus, we've got the two best Aurors in the world on our side." She looked toward Potter and Weasley. They both had proud looks on their faces.

"Wait a minute." A small voice said. Everyone turned to James Sirius Potter, or Jack for short, and Draco saw (out of the corner of his eye) that Potter and the Weasley girl were both sighing. "What if Lord Voldemort IS a Death Eater? Or he's controlling one through a Whisper? What if Albus turns out to be the reincarnation of Lord Voldemort and he ends up in Slytherin, ruining the family streak of Gryffindors?" Potter started to laugh as the Weasley girl went over to the boy and pinched his ear. She muttered something into his ear on the base of, "Don't ask stupid questions in front of other people", but no one could hear besides Draco because everyone was too busy laughing at the what he said. The rest of the night, everyone just stayed up (after kicking Parkinson out because no one wanted Parkinson there), just telling useless jokes or talking about stupid things they used to do. Potter and Draco still tooks cracks at one another, Weasley and Draco got in an argument and Hermione had to say, "Ladies, ladies, break it up!", for them to stop, and then in the morning, all the visitors had to leave, so that just Potter and Draco (and their still asleep sons) were there.

"You know, this doesn't really mean we are friends again." Draco said. Potter looked at him with a curious look. "Rivalry has always been important between us. I guess that, meetings like these are fine, but I swear, if my Scorpius doesn't beat your son in every single subject possible, I will go and join the Death Eaters in Azkaban." Potter laughed at this. _Times like these,_ thought Draco _, are the ones to cherish. I've never had this much fun with other people in 19 years._ Draco smiled at the thought of Hogwarts being able to do all of this to him in one night. Slowly, he and Potter went back to sleep, laughing at each other's stories and thinking about their sons, who would grow to become the wizards of the future.


	2. An Awakening Enemy

Chapter Two: An Awakening Enemy

Al woke up to sunlight pouring in his eyes. The day before, he had been with his new friend, Scorpius Malfoy, before he got attacked by some big man wearing a huge, black robe. He had heard his parents and some other people yelling in the night, but he was too tired, and his body ached like never before. He was in St. Mungo's Hospital, where he was born, but otherwise had never been here. He felt some sort of strange feeling to slam his head onto the floor, but when his father, Harry, saw him, he quickly called for Aunt Hermione, who ran in, along with Ginny, his mum, and they started to rub his head with some sparkly liquid. Scorpius sat on the nearby bed, his face coated with the same liquid, trying to rub it off speckle by speckle, but Mrs. Malfoy had charmed his face so that it flew right back onto his face. He groaned every time a droplet slammed onto his face, and he was thrust back in his bed. Al had to try his hardest not to laugh, so that Mum wouldn't whack him with something, which she did whenever he or James were being mischievous or doing something that upset her. Scorpius explained everything that had happened, the most bewildering being that their attacker was using Polyjuice to pose as a man.

"There, Al!" Aunt Hermione said as she finally rubbed the last bit of the liquid on. "It's a tad uncomfortable, but your mum is going to put on an Anti-Crumble spell on it so that it doesn't crumble off." Mum raised her wand and charmed it so that it would stick to Al's face. He could now tell why Scorpius was trying to make to crumble off his face. Al tried to pick at it, but Mum whacked his hand before anything fell off. Al's hand had a small little mark where his mother's nails had put tiny little scratches, nothing abusive, but it still hurt. He muttered an , "Ouch, you crazy woman" under his breath.

"Do you want to get better or not?" Mum asked him. Even though Al knew it was rhetorical, he muttered, "This crap is worse" underneath his breath. Then Hermione went to his side and whispered in his ear.

"Your mum isn't feeling too well, love." She whispered softly, with a warm smile. "She was worried sick about you. Remember, it's was a huge strain on her to see her son almost die, especially with a dark spell… and your first year is practically just around the corner..." Aunt Hermione sighed, rubbed her temples, and then ended with, "You and your siblings are _SO_ important to her. Please, _please_ be careful." She looked as if she was about to say something else, but Uncle Ron called her over to tend to other matters before she could say what it was. Aunt Hermione kissed his forehead, then ran off to Uncle Ron.

Al sighed. So far, he had become best friends with his father's childhood nemesis, and his aunt and uncle's childhood bully, and got attacked by someone who his parents had gone to school with while she was being controlled by a Death Eater. He leaned back into the bed and closed his eyes, hoping that any part of him that was tired would let him sleep,because an exciting day required lots of rest, but his body felt like running a mile. On top of that, the strange sparkly liquid was becoming the most uncomfortable thing in the world. He decided to get his mind off of it, and got up to talk to Scorpius.

"That was close, wasn't it?" Al said, knowing that Scorpius would answer. "We almost got killed. At least, that's what Aunt Hermione says, and she gets scared to death of spiders. Oh wait, no that not her… that's Uncle Ron." Scorpius laughed out loud. Al smiled at what he had just said. It was no doubt that Aunt Hermione was the mature one out of the two of them, and Uncle Ron was definitely the most bravest, yet (hilariously) innocent one. The image of them laughing appeared in his head, making the day feel at least a little better, knowing that at least the people Al loved would be happy.

"The woman, she definitely got me the least out of the two of us." Scorpius said. "My head doesn't ache that much, but Mum says that it's better to be safe than sorry." He sighed before continuing. "My dad, he woke up around the same time I did, and he came over to me and he normally does this thing where he finds something educational about EVERYTHING, and he made this joke about how this time is the perfect time for that. I smiled, though that hurt a lot. Everything hurts, it's strange, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but this weird clay thing is worst." Al replied, to keep the conversation going on. It was nice to finally talk be able to talk to someone like _this_. Like a _friend_. He had friends, of course, but they were all going to Muggle School. They couldn't know about the wizard world. Scorpius is actually someone he could reside in about his secrets. "I want to peel the whole thing off, but it sucks, because it's really bothersome. My mum told me not to take it off. Plus, I'm really tired, and kinda want to take the longest nap in the world."

"Yeah. Mine told me to not go to sleep either, but I went to sleep right after Dad told the joke, so I'm not really tired." Scorpius said. "I've never been in St. Mungo's. Why aren't there any Healers around, usually there are hundreds, if not thousands, waiting around for someone to be checked in. The Wizarding World _is_ more dangerous than the world of the Muggles, or that's what Dad says. Anyways, the injuries that happen here can send most of the private wards filled up, and that happens on slow days! The fact that there are no Healers is kinda creeping me out…"

Scorpius and Al spent the rest of the day talking about how they were in St. Mungo's for the first time, their excitement for their first year at Hogwarts, and how absolutely astonished they were that _they_ were chosen to be attacked, and not Al's dad or Mr. Malfoy. They stopped talking the moment that Uncle George walked into the room, holding a bagful of prank-related things, with the biggest smile on his face.

"'Is one time, Fred and I were battling your mum, Al, when she hit Fred 'quare in the face, and he was knocked out. The two of us decided that, in his state, we could test out our newest pranks. Your Grannie was the crucial part of it; when we expanded Fred's face, she screamed, and fainted. Your Grandpa, always being picked on by Grannie, he gave us 5 galleons! FIVE! He said that she had just said 'no' to one of his gimmicks, and now he could just do it behind her back." Uncle George laughed a bit, before continuing with the story, which had Scorpius, Al, and James all interested.

"She also got scared when we came up with one that makes ya _think_ you're seeing' a boggart, but really, it's just a strangely ugly house elf that Peeves was experimenting on. Fred and I, we caught him right when he finished, and Fred said, 'Oi! Peeves! You give the house elf to us, and we don't tell Filch or Dumbledore that you're making a fake boggart.' Of course, at first, Peeves didn't care. We had to keep trying to convince him that he should give it to us, but he only agreed when we mentioned the Bloody Baron. He's terrified of him, he is." Uncle George looked around to see if there were any of the other adults nearby before continuing in a whisper. "Don't tell your mum, but Peeves said that if we sent him a picture of her kissing the house elf disguised as Harry, then we would definitely get it. Oh my god, it was PERFECT! Ginny started making out with it. O' course, she realized it was a boggar' and just killed it and went back to her business" Uncle George started to laugh a little too hard, and James had to go and shut the doors so that none of the adults come in. "So, we got a couple of pictures of her, and when Peeves saw, oh lord, did he laugh! Remember that Fred…" Uncle George's voice died out at the end. It was an awkward silence that followed, and James, Al, and Scorpius all felt like there was something up with this whole environment.

"I'll… I'll go open the door. Mum might suspect something if we're with Uncle George, and no other adults." James said to break the silence. He got up, and opened the door. James ran back to where he was sitting so that it seemed like they were all just sitting and chatting. Everyone tried to smile, but Uncle George had this look of sadness upon his face, like missing Fred was the most important thing on his mind. The sadness on his face wiped off the smiles from James, Al, and Scorpius. The three looked at each other, but it was only when their mums walked in that they realized something: Uncle Fred was the happiest memory that Uncle George ever had. Al always wished he could meet him. Uncle Fred sounded like the type of uncle he would want hanging around Uncle George. The two would prank their mother, would bring happiness those times that someone mentioned the Battle of Hogwarts or Uncle Fred. _Mum would definitely want him back_ , Al thought to himself.

"George?" His mum said in concern. She ran over to him, and hugged him as he sobbed, tears which were being shed over the same reason as many others. "Should I get Angelina? You know…" she looked as if she was about to say something, but then she noticed that James, Al, Scorpius and Mrs. Malfoy were all here. She closed her mouth, swallowed, then continued. "You know, Ron's shift is done. You've got to go check that the store is seen to being closed properly. Diagon Alley's light in the darkness needs to close the store properly, like a true comedian." Mum helped her crying brother get up as he wiped his eyes. Then he shook her off and smiled, as he walked away. While he walked out, Al's dad and Uncle Ron walked in. The two best friend Aurors pointed at Uncle George, but Mum started to shake her head, and it was like the three of them were using sign language. Uncle George stared at them, looked like the most confused man in the world, and it was when Mr. Malfoy walked in that they all went back to normal. Al didn't even noticed Mrs. Malfoy and Scorpius sitting together, talking and smiling and laughing. Mr. Malfoy came over to them, tears in his eyes, and Scorpius looked up at him.

"You beat someone up?" Scorpius asked his dad casually. Mr. Malfoy blushed looked away, and started to make an attempt at talking, but all that came out was just some stupid words of mumbling. Mrs. Malfoy laughed as her husbandwas left speechless at what Scorpius had asked him. "Well? Come on, dad, I want to hear ALL about it!" Scorpius was smiling such a wide grin, and Mr. Malfoy looked petrified. If they didn't look so alike, then no one would guess that they were related. Mr. Malfoy took a deep breath before narrating what happened while they were asleep.

"Well, I couldn't just let her leave, while you were attacked with a killer spell." Mr. Malfoy admitted. While it was obvious that he thought that Scorpius wouldn't like that, he and Al both started cheering their dads on to tell the story. Mr. Malfoy and Al's dad laughed for a bit before telling the story. With a dramatic spin, everyone in the room was listening to them, before once again, Pansy "Pimple" Parkinson (you can guess which Weasley twin came up with _that_ name) walked in and demanded to talk to Mr. Malfoy.

"I must talk to Draco alone. We have some important matters to discuss." Pansy slithered. Al and James exchanged a look of happiness. They both always dreamed of helping out at Uncle George's joke shop, Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, and now was the perfect time. The two started to whisper rapidly to each other. What the two troublemakers didn't know was that their younger and quieter sister, Lily Luna, was listening to their every word, and smiling, knowing that her prophecies were finally becoming true.

* * *

James caught up with Pansy Parkinson in the hall, when he was supposed to be getting milk for his brother. Or at least, that was his parents thought he was going to do. At first, James thought the more silent approach was going to work, but after almost ten minutes, he decided that this a more direct approach would have a better effect. He decided that standing there until she was far away would be perfect. He worked out a whole bunch of mathematical stuff in his head. Once she was down at the other side of the corridor, James ran as fast as he could, screaming, "Pansy! Pansy Parkinson!" He ran as fast as he could until he caught up with her, completely out of breath. She turned and her mouth was curved into a disgusting expression, one that reminded James of a dying frog he once saw.

"What do you want, _Potter_?" She spat out. Pansy's face was so ugly that James was literally an atom away from spoiling the prank and retaliating to her insult, but realized two things: first, that he should have been proud that she called him a Potter, and two, that if they messed up the prank now, at the very beginning, Uncle George would never let him and Al become a prankster like he was. _This female dunce-cap will learn_ her _lesson to never offend a Potter by the time Al and I are done with her_ , thought James to himself.

"I need to talk to you. About what just happened. With you being controlled by the Whisper." James rushed. He looked around frantically, pretending to be discreet about the situation at hand, then leaned in and whispered, "I think that Voldemort is back" He whispered. She smiled when he said this, and then went back to the ugly expression she had on earlier. She pulled out her wand and started to move closer to him. James's fun was starting to end, as he saw a light on the end of her wand. "Um… Draco also thinks so… that should convince you, he thought…"

"What?" She said with a strange look. "I've got something _else_ in store for you. The Dark Lord knows exactly what the doctor should order." As Pansy moved closer to him, he backed away, knowing that there was at least hundreds of feet between him and Pansy and the ward where his brother was. James had to come up with something, anything to divert the conversation. Fear rose up in him when he realized: _Pansy Parkinson is working for Voldemort!_ He started to back away more quickly now, feeling like this may or may not be his last moments. _Think, James, think! What would your namesakes do?_ James thought to himself. He always looked up to the late James Potter and Sirius Black, and knew that they were the two pranksters who could even come close to the brilliance of Fred and George Weasley. James smiled at the thought of the Marauders, and the type of things those guys did. _Think, James, think! What would those two do?_ He finally blurted out the first good idea that came to mind.

"I want to become a Death Eater." He said. At first, Pansy didn't look convinced. James had to sound more… _un-prankster like_. "I'm serious, Ms. Parkinson! I want to bring Voldemort back to health." Pansy stopped. James was sweating, and tried to pant as hard as he could. He put his most serious face. James knew that this was what his life was depending on; he had to look convincing, or this would be the last lie he ever told. _Please, Sirius, help me lie!_ He thought. He always prayed to Sirius whenever he was about to lie. Sirius Black was the most amazing liar in the history of wizards. Of course, James was going to pray to him. _Please please please please PLEASE SIRIUS!_ He screamed in his head for Sirius. James's life was on the line. Of course, not the first time, but he _really_ didn't want to die at the hand of a Death Eater.

" _AVADA KEDAVRA!_ " A girl screamed behind him. James whipped around to see Grace standing there, holding her wand out, pointing it at Pansy Parkinson. Of course, Pansy ducked, but she apparated before she could fight back. Grace lowered her wand and ran to James. The two hugged, then looked at the smoke that was left where Pansy was before she left. They still hugged while looking. Pansy left a long trail of smoke behind her. It was green.

"She _really_ needed to go to the loo." James joked. He and Grace both laughed before they walked back to the room where Al and Scorpius were.

"Wait, so she was a Death Eater?" Al asked. Grace and James had explained what happened to Rose (Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron's daughter), Al and Scorpius, the kids who were all going to Hogwarts for their first year in the next month. They were all hooked on what had happened. Especially since the Potters were known for having a certain reputation for fighting Death Eaters.

"Yes, she was." Grace cut off James, when he was about to say "No." James looked at her with a look that obviously said _What do you mean?_ , and Grace sighed and replied with, "If she was being controlled by a Whisper, it would have been left behind, because Whispers can't apparate. If she was brainwashed, then she would not have been able to apparate, because brainwashing a wizard requires tremendous amounts of magic, and she would have at least come with one large scar on her face, because Death Eaters aren't exactly, well, easy on their brainwashing methods. If she were being portrayed by another Death Eater, we would have been able to get a glimpse of who it was, and we would have known. There are more variables, which may take time to find, but it truly does look a lot like she is a Death Eater." Grace took a breath, let it out, and then sighed at the fact that she had just said an entire paragraph of sentences. No one laughed for long though, because Pansy Parkinson knew a lot about Hogwarts.

"It's fine, though. It's not like her info's worth it, especially 'cause of the changes at Hogwarts. The only thing that she's probably still accurate on is what happened those years, which really, it shouldn't matter." James reassured everyone. "Plus, if she was really that good, she would have done better at escaping Gracie here." He turned to her, expecting a happy expression, but Grace's face was grim, and was in fact, looking more terrified than she normally does during the summer. "Gracie? What's wrong?" James asked her in a serious tone. He was serious about her; her protection was one of the most important things to James.

"I used magic…" she said. James's expression grew grim. Al didn't understand why. By his expression, Grace could tell that he had no clue why it was such a bad deal. "At Hogwarts, the rule is that you are _not_ allowed to use magic during summer break unless you are seventh year. It's completely irrational in my opinion, they should just have restrictions set on the wands, but the only exception is if someone's life is in danger, and the spell is used not for harm, but for heal. I'm totally going to get in trouble for using magic, because it's rule is only for _self-protection_. I wasn't allowed to use it to save James." Grace started to hyperventilate.

"It's alright, Grace, I got everything smoothed out." A voice said behind them. They all turned around to Aunt Hermione. Everyone forgot about the adults, which is normally pretty hard, considering that they always were surrounded by them. "I talked with Kingsley. He told me that we should be able to skim over this one, since without you, we would never have been able to find out that it wasn't just Pansy: the whole Parkinson family has been donating to the Death Eaters. We haven't confirmed whether or not they are guilty, because Pansy might have them under whispers, and I'm the only person who will be available soon enough to de-Whisper them. Plus, the Parkinsons were never charged for their association with the Battle of Hogwarts, so in conclusion, they'll be pressed with charges of, at the least, 100 Galleons, even if they are proven innocent in this certain issue." Everyone looked sort of confused, but Uncle Ron came to the rescue.

"What she means is, after what Grace did, Minister of Magic Kingsley Shacklebolt was alright with her magic use, because without her, we wouldn't have been able to uncover Pansy." Uncle Ron explained. Aunt Hermione glared at him, obviously upset that he explained it in a shorter and more understandable format. Uncle Ron smiled at Aunt Hermione, and she stopped glaring, and instead blushed. Al looked at James. The two always enjoyed it when their family was all lovey-dovey with each other, but really, sometimes it was a bit over-the-top with these old couples. The two brothers laughed, because they could both tell that they had read each other's minds, but also because they both always despised it whenever adults started to show affection for each other in public settings. Adults always felt that it was something nice, that it was an act of bravery, but really, that was so old-fashioned that Al and James would sometimes stay up drawing the funniest pictures of their parents whenever they said something flirty or strangely sweet. That was their favorite part of the weekends: sitting down with a cuppa', drawing the funniest things of that day, discussing their future hopes and dreams, connecting like the proper brothers they should be.

Al suddenly realized something: James had always brought home this girl, Grace, but Al never knew who she was. Immediately after thinking this, Al had to know the answer. "Who are you, Grace?" Al blurted out. Everyone silenced at that. He regretted his wording immediately. "I mean, I know your name, and I've met you before, and respect you and all, but I've never known you before James came for his first Christmas break, and after that, you've been staying with us whenever you have to come home." Al regretted saying this, too, after he said it. All the people in the room seemed to relax after what he said, but it seemed like his mum. James and Grace were more tense after what he said.

"I, uh, met your brother at Hogwarts. I'm a Muggleborn, and my parents live pretty far away, so why not just live with people closer to the actual school?" She answered. It was full of smiles, but Al knew that it was fake. That is what it always was: fake answers, fake questions, fake smiles. He wanted to know truths. His parents always said that he would find out more serious things during his first visit during his time at Hogwarts, but he wanted to know _now_ : why did they always lie? He felt rage in his stomach. This was weird. He was freaking out over one small, little thing. Slowly, he went from his calm self to a boy who was ready to enrage at his parents. The worst part was, his forehead was hurting like crazy. Then he heard it.

Al screamed as the man's voice whispered, " _Ready or not, Voldemort is back_ ", in a voice so sly and evil that it seared Al's forehead like crazy: it was worst than what he had experienced merely hours ago. Everyone ran over to his side. James and Harry gasped, as they were the closest ones to Al, when they saw what was on his forehead.

A lightning bolt-shaped scar, just like the one on Harry Potter's forehead, waiting for the next sign of Voldemort, so that it can sear its rage into the young boy.


	3. Inheritages and Generations

**A/N: I know this is the first time I've made an Author's Note, so please pardon me for that. This chapter was long, I know, and the rest were only a little shorter, so I thought that I would also post shorter updates on my Tumblr (** **) so that if you want to read shorter versions, it is here. I post half-chapters on there, but the updates don't come out as soon, so please don't hate me :(**

 **Anyways, I also add Author's Notes on there all the time, while I don't add it on all the time. Please understand!**

 **Now, let us start with what you guys** _ **really**_ **want...**

Chapter Three: Inheritages and Generations

Al's forehead was searing with pain, as if a red-hot iron had been pressed against it. He was crying as the man in his head spoke. " _Patience, child. It will be over soon, the pain never lasts for long._ " Al still screamed. This voice kept telling him to be patient, and to endure the pain. " _Accept it, like you love your loved ones. They soon will be no more_." This strange man slithered, (which Al didn't know was possible) before cackling with satisfaction. He wanted to scream and throw his head onto the ground and break it in half. James was beside his bed, sweating. He was hyperventilating, which he did whenever he was excessively worried about something. He didn't speak to anyone, he only pleaded to James the I, which he did whenever someone that he loved was going through something. It happened for the first time when Al got lost while they were at the Ministry of Magic, staying with Aunt Hermione for the day, and then James started to pray to both his namesakes. Grace said that he also did it a lot during his days at Hogwarts. Sometimes she would hear him murmur things in his sleep (how she knew this, Al always wondered), and slowly, James started to do it more and more often, whether it was for a prank, for a grade, to get something he wanted. Whenever James needed something, the prayers to the Marauders were there. Al thought of all these things while his head was throbbing. It was the only thing that really did help to ease the pain.

" _Stop thinking, you prat_." The man's voice spat. It went from satisfied to a strange tone of pain and anger. " _I need your pain, you disgusting git!"_ The man said. Al was starting to get angry. This man was invading his head, and he wanted him _out_. Al started to fight the pain. He could start to hear James. Grace was taking a whole bunch of potions and feeding it to Al.

"Al, bro, can you hear me?" James begged. "Please hear me! Please!" Tears rolled down his older brother's face. Al was starting to get mad. This man was not only causing him pain, but his brother and his family and everyone he loved pain. Al started to scream in his head. _NO NO NO! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!_ Al screamed in his thoughts. _STOP IT! I WON'T LISTEN TO YOU!_ It didn't matter if it took him forever. This slithering man would get out of his head, whether or not he wanted to. " _I shall not leave! The Dark Lord does not take the orders of a child of the Weasleys or Potter! Only those who are of proper families, following Dark Magic._ " The man tried to stay tough, but it was quite obvious that he was growing weaker as Al's will was growing. Never before had he fought off something so much. Never before did he have this much control. It was a feeling that Al was not able to treasure for long, because the man began to groan, Al could even hear it, and then finally was driven out. " _'Till another time, Potter!_ " The man hissed, before the pain stopped, and he was finally able to rest.

Al opened his eyes. Tears gone, everyone was around him, staring at him like Healers around a patient. James was crying, which he rarely did, because everyone always thought he was some type of rebel. The truth was, though, that he had the same qualities of the Marauders and the Weasley twins: he was a rebel on his crust, but at heart, he cared for everyone. He burst into even more tears, as Lily, his mum and dad all started to talk at once, reassuring him, expressing their worries, and then blabbering on about, well, Al really didn't know what. Aunt Hermione smiled, then wiped her eyes. Uncle Ron wrapped his arms around her, and she leaned her head into his chest. Al looked at James, and the two boys laughed at the adult's affections.

"Can you do me a favor, mate?" James asked, and Al already knew it was going to be a joke. "Mind _not_ dying for the rest of the week? Twice in barely 24 hours is not really a good record." Al started to laugh. "Plus, you don't want to miss your chance at Hogwarts, eh?" James was always good at making Al laugh. Especially this time, when all his younger brother wanted was to laugh. Scorpius was also beside him, laughing his but off. Grace was behind James, and as Al's eyes stopped tearing, he was able to see everyone crowded around him. Al smiled for everyone, showing that the pain was gone. The only people who looked worried about this whole thing were Al's dad, Uncle Ron, and Aunt Hermione. They all looked at each other. Uncle Ron shrugged, and Aunt Hermione seemed worried out of her mind. Harry sighed before the Golden Trio all walked into the hall. James and Al looked at each other. Al lunged himself forward, and he got back onto his bed. Everyone began talking at once, and Al and Scorpius gave each other a look. The only thing those two wanted to do right now was to take a long nap in peace, but obviously, everyone had different thoughts.

James started to notice it. So did Grace and Rose. After all the adults were done slobbering, they went to their corner of the room, drinking and making jokes, playing cards, and doing all types of stupid stuff. The kids all sat in a sort of circle, after pulling up chairs, leaving slight scratch marks on the floor. James was about to ask something, when a house-elf appeared in front of them. She was dressed in Healer clothing, and had a huge smile on her face.

"Hi there! I am Levia, your Healer." She greeted. It was strange to hear a house-elf talk in a perfect accent in front of Scorpius, especially since he normally lived in Malfoy Manor, where their house-elves were well educated, but not fluent like Limpy was. Everyone gave her a strange look. She seemed disappointed, looked herself over, gasped, then smacked her forehead. "Sorry I look like this. I'm not a house-elf. I was playing a prank on my half-brother, Blaise, because he got entered into a private ward nearby recently. Everyone silenced to listen to Levia's story, even the adults. Mr. Malfoy seemed even more concerned than the rest of them. "Anyways, I told him that I'm Libby, his house-elf, and he started yelling at this Healer there, who was in on the prank, and she was so confused because he was against St. Mungo's having house-elves and so and such. He was yelling so much, he passed out! Anywho, he is coming by this ward soon, he's coming to see the Malfoys, don't know if it's supposed to be the ward to the left or right, something through this corridor." She looked at her chart, looked up, and blushed and moved a strand of her black hair out of her face. "Oh, I didn't know that this was the actual… oh I'm sorry!" Levia looked as if she was about to burst into tears.

Mrs. Malfoy got a closer look at the Healer. "Levia?" She said. Levia looked at her and beamed. The two hugged tightly before separating. As Levia tended to matters around them, everyone eyed Mrs. Malfoy and she looked at Al's mum. She shrugged, and Mrs. Malfoy sighed before saying, "We were both in the same year at Hogwarts. In fact, we were in the same part of the dorm. Of course, it's bigger now, but back then, each room was probably as big as a hotel room, with beds along it. I'm not sure about the other dorms or the boy's dorms, but really, they shouldn't have been _too_ different, right, Draco?" She turned to her husband, but he was staring off into space. "What's wrong, love?" She asked him, with true worry.

"It's Blaise… the old bloke's usually really careful about what he gets himself into. I should go tend to his ward and just make sure he is fine." Mr. Malfoy said monotonously, obviously engulfed in his thoughts. He turned to Scorpius. "I'll be there for only about an hour. He's my best friend, or at least, the best one outside the family." He smiled at Scorpius, who smiled back with a grin that took up half his face. "I have to go make sure he's fine. Don't worry, once I'm sure he's fine, I'll Apparate straight back here. Keep smiling, Scorpius." He assured his son. After waving, he Apparated straight to Blaise's place. Mrs. Malfoy went to talk to Levia, and since the private ward was quite big, they could only hear little giggle and snippets of their conversation. Al's mum eventually drifted off toward them. The only adults left were Mrs. Abbott-Longbottom and Aunt Angelina, who would walk home with Uncle George once he came back. The two went to have a lengthy talk about their own matters, such as owning a store on Diagon Alley and teaching classes at Hogwarts. Grace and James stared off at them. The two turned back to the other kids.

"Give it one more month, and Aunt Angelina is going to turn into Professor Weasley. Oh, you'll get a full dose of your medicine when you see how strict she is." James joked. Grace nudged him, and he nudged her back. They made eye contact, and stared at each other for a bit. Rose rolled her eyes, and whispered so that only Al and Scorpius could hear and said, "Give it one more month, and these two will be walking around holding hands, snogging each other in public." Scorpius looked shocked, obviously because he was taught to never show affection like that in public, and Al laughed at his expression.

"It's only a joke, Scorpius." Al reassured him. "You know, have your parents been calling you Scorpius your whole life?" Scorpius nodded his head. Al and Rose looked at each other. They were both thinking the same thing. "We have to come up with a nickname for you." They said simultaneously. Scorpius looked terrified and, in fact, seemed ready to run out of the ward.

"I've… I've never been given a nickname…" he stuttered. "I don't want one." Rose chuckled and tapped shoulders with him.

"It'll just be me, then." She said. "I call James by a nickname that Muggles use, Jack. I call Albus here by his nickname Al, and you can, too, just remember; I am the nickname master." _She makes_ everything _dramatic_ , Al thought to himself. _Even nicknames, for Merlin's sake._ He watched as Rose played with Scorpius's perfectly gelled-back hair. She fluffed it, and it went all over the place, and he began trying to smooth it back down. They were all laughing, even Scorpius. The three of them all laughed for a solid ten minutes, and then once his hair was re-gelled (an entire bottle's worth), they simply sat there, smiling.

"Are you excited for Hogwarts, Rose?" Scorpius asked. Rose seemed to be deep in thought before answering with a nod. "I wonder what house I'll end up in. I hope Gryffindor, but Slytherin is what would make my dad happy." Rose thought for a moment before she she answered Scorpius' original question..

"Yeah, I guess I'm pretty excited." She stared off into space. "I want to learn Transfiguration. That way, I can turn Hugo into a slug." Rose laughed before continuing. ¨Maybe I'll end up in Gryffindor. Especially since Mum, Dad, Aunt Ginny and Uncle Harry all ended up in Gryffindor. If not that, then Ravenclaw. Maybe Slytherin, but I'm not really the type of person to use charm to get what I want. And I am pretty cunning and ambitious, but really, I want to have an adventure of earning my own things in life." Once she ended, Scorpius and Rose turned to Al. He was still thinking.

"I'm most _definitely_ excited about going to Hogwarts. I hope I end up in Gryffindor…" Al trailed off at the end. James and Grace were now listening.

"You'll end up in Slytherin. It's definite." James said. Grace smacked his arm, and started to whisper to him to stop bullying his brother. "What? It's not like I'm lying. He came up with all these different ways to convince mum to let him do stuff she normally wouldn't let him, and he's practically stellar Slytherin material." Al took this to heart more than he should. He stared at James with such sad eyes that the older brother was left speechless. Grace had to step in to help.

"Look, your brother thought the same thing, too, and look at him! He's in Gryffindor." She reassured Al. "Don't worry. You'll end up in Gryffindor. If anyone is brave in this room, it's you. Just relax! Nothing bad is going to happen!" Everyone laughed except James, who was busy processing the fact that Al was called braver than him. As revenge, he lifted Grace, and she kicked and flailed her arms and legs around. James laughed before setting her back down, and she quietly muttered a whole stream of unpleasant words. Scorpius felt his jaw drop as he realized that such terrible curses had just come out of this girl's mouth. Grace, who struck him as the type of person to be a smart, kind, caring and loving type of person. Rose and Al had to fight their laughs as they saw Scorpius stare with wide eyes at Grace for the rest of the hour, and whenever he had to talk to her, stuttered and didn't talk in full sentences, much to Grace's disliking.

* * *

A couple Healers came in, because they had actually treated Scorpius, Mr. Malfoy, Al and his dad all when they were still sleeping. They were quite peculiar, in Al's opinion. For one, one of them, quite out of the ordinary, randomly took out a rubber chicken and ran to Ms. Abbott to tell her to use it to "save her beans" or something. When he turned his back, she chucked it out the window. Another Healer took a bottle and told Al to fill it with the things he find in the loo, and then turned to Scorpius, and was halfway through explaining what he should do, and in disturbing depth, when Mr. Malfoy came by and shot him a disgusting look. The Healer immediately stopped and walked away, and James and Rose were stifling their laughter, and Grace was telling them to be quiet so that she could listen to Lily talking about the _Daily Prophet_ and the newest articles published. When Grace suddenly gasped and burst into tears, everyone turned to her and could tell something was up. After noticing everyone's eyes on her, Grace wiped away her tears and told them the depressing news.

"A very important man, Professor Slughorn, the Head of the Slytherin House, was abducted by Death Eaters, and they found his mangled and tortured!" She managed to say in between her voice breaking. "I just hope he comes back for your first year… he's so kind!" Grace began to sob terribly, and James hugged her, and even though he was being her shoulder to cry on, he began to let little tears roll down his face. _This professor must be awfully important to these two,_ thought Al. _Maybe I'll like him, too, next year._ They all sat in silence, as Death Eater attacks were beginning to get more and more frequent. Lily was quiet, and then she spoke up, surprising everyone.

"There was an article about what happened at the Leaky Cauldron!" She broke the silence. "I have it right here…" she rummaged through her purse. "Yes! Here it is!" She pulled out the _Daily Prophet_ and turned to a lengthy article about Al and Scorpius, and their fathers' fight.

 **The Hogwarts Princes Fight For Their Sons**

 _By Bran Falkowitz_

The Battle of Hogwarts, which took place 19 years ago, is known for having the two "Hogwarts Princes" fight for their lives, one being threatened, the other being led by a prophecy. These two princes, Harry James Potter, or the Boy Who Lived, and Draco Lucius Malfoy, the famous Malfoy Heir, were seen at Diagon Alley, fighting against a Death Eater for attacking their sons. At the Leaky Cauldron, at around 12:30 on Tuesday, Pansy Parkinson, best friend and ex-girlfriend of Malfoy, best friends since their first year, and girlfriend from the beginning of their sixth year until the time around the Battle of Hogwarts, and one of the students siding with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named during the Battle of Hogwarts, attacked Albus Severus "Al" Potter and Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy, the sons of our two Hogwarts Princes, with a _Dolorem_ curse, which is incredibly deadly, and landed both boys in St. Mungo's. When Potter and Malfoy saw, they ran to their sons sides, and once their wives, Ginevra "Ginny" Potter and Astoria Malfoy, got to their sons' sides, the princes ran after Parkinson, who was on Polyjuice Potion at the time. After they cornered her in another alley, they whipped out their wands, and began to apprehend her, and landed several punches and kicks (and used _Wingardium Leviosa_ to keep her in the air). Eventually, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger-Weasley, Hannah Abbott, and George Weasley, who are all close friends of Harry Potter, arrived and ran to hold back the two men. After the Polyjuice wore off, Malfoy went back to punching Parkinson, with a lot more rage, and Granger-Weasley had to cast a Resting Charm, but it left Malfoy with a head injury and left both Potter and Malfoy unconscious. They have now been entered into a private ward at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. Let us hope that all four of our little princes and heroes all get better soon, and let us hope that the two boys go to Hogwarts and have a safe first year!

Lily read the whole article out loud, and James and Grace looked at Al and Scorpius with a new, scared look. "D-Do-Dolo-Dolorem?" James stuttered. Grace put her hands over her mouth. Al and Scorpius looked at each other and shrugged.

"What's so bad about it?" Scorpius asked casually. Grace whipped out a book, that was at least three inches thick, from her bag that she had just bought her textbooks for the upcoming year for. She ran her fingers over the cover, then looked at James. He shrugged and turned to Scorpius. He and Grace still had a worried look on their face.

"Dolorem is a spell that, if it is casted in the perfect circumstances, can kill and, at the very least, torture." Graces whispered so that the adults couldn't hear. "We aren't supposed to know about this, I can tell, and plus, Dolorem is a spell that only powerful wizards should cast, and most of the time, they don't even try it. If it isn't done properly, it can kill the person who tried to cast it. The fact that Pansy didn't kill you guys says that she has just tried it, and many people who went up against You-Know-Who, along with his Death Eaters, didn't even try it ."

"But what does it _do?_ " Al asked. He had to know what this was about. Grace and James exchanged looks, and checked to make sure it was just the kids listening.

"It means sorrow in Latin, and it causes the body to feel pain which isn't there." Grace took a deep breath. "Now here's some Muggle science along with it: the human body searches for the intruder in the body, which causes a lot of strain on the nerves the more and more it has to do it. Dolorem puts such a strain on them that it can take those nerves and break them apart. Luckily, there weren't any killing effects on you guys. If you were hit with Dolorem properly, you nerves would have broken apart, and you would've… well… you know…" Grace started muttering and turned her head away. James hugged her, and cast a dirty look at the picture of Pansy smirking, and just below the picture was a notice saying that if she is spotted, everyone should leave her presence as soon as possible and call the Auror hotline. Scorpius picked it up and gasped.

"Not Ms. Parkinson, it can't be her!" He gasped. Everyone turned to him. "She comes on Sundays for tea with Mum! How could she be a Death Eater? She must have been under the Imperius curse!" Scorpius began to defend her. Grace sighed and had a sad look.

"If she was under the Imperius curse, then she would have shown signs during her screening, while you guys were unconscious. If there was even a small strain, we would have seen it. There is no way that she was under the Imperius curse. I'm sorry, Scorpius." Grace looked at him. Al suddenly felt his eyes finally adjust to everything around him. Grace's light brown skin, brown-black (and died slightly red at the tips) hair, and dark brown eyes actually made her look more American than Indian, as she claimed. He wondered whether it was just the lights, but he also noticed that her eyes had a glow in them. Al also noticed that his brother, with his jet black hair, styled to look like the Muggle hairstyles that many of his famous actor like David Tennant, bright brown eyes, and freckles, was staring at Grace with a strange look in his eyes. Not a look of judgement, it was just the opposite. It was as if he was love-struck, but Al knew that even if his brother was rebellious on the crust and sweet at the core, he was still _NOT_ in love with Grace. Deciding to forget about the weird experience, he turned to Rose.

She was running her fingers through her ginger hair, and was actually listening to Scorpius, looking at him with her light blue eyes. Her make-up actually brought out her face a bit, but Al knew that she would take it off the moment they stepped into Hogwarts, because even though she was rebellious to the last hair on her body, she also cared about being the smartest in her year. Rose kept running her hands through her hair. Scorpius, meanwhile, was going on and on about Hogwarts, although Rose was still listening with lots of interest. Al thought that Scorpius looked a lot like Mr. Malfoy; he had pale blonde hair and grey eyes. Actually, all the kids looked like their parents, including him and James, who looked like Harry. Lily looked like Ginny, with her soft, ginger hair and blue eyes, and Al looked like Harry and his brother, except that he had dark blue eyes.

Just then, Hugo ran to Lily, and started to talk to her about dragons. They walked away muttering about Hungarian Horntails when Mr. Malfoy Apparated in front of them. Scorpius smiled at the sight of his father. He whipped out his wand, and Mr. Malfoy took out a Chocolate Frog. Al smiled at the candy that he had given to Scorpius. They were in a new candy shop, Melanie's Candy Romance, when he saw a boy his age holding a pouch of Galleons, and not using a single one. Al had walked up to him.

"What are you looking at?" He asked, but politely.

"Oh, I'm trying to decide which I should get." He said. "I've never had any of the candies at Diagon Alley. The only chocolates we have are these Muggle chocolates called Ferrero Rochers, but otherwise we have the chocolates my father's house elves make. Even those are completely anti-magic." The boy said this without a hint of gloating. It seemed like he was actually _sad_ about the fact that his father was limiting his chocolates to only prestigious ones, not anything boastful. Al smiled and pointed to the Chocolate Frogs.

"If you want to try out middle-class magic candies, try those." Al said. "They're the best in the whole world. I like Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, over there, to the left, but Chocolate Frogs taste more simple, and you aren't going to have to fear tasting booger or fart in a bite." The boy's eyebrows raised in surprise at the last comment, but otherwise he wasn't judgemental about anything. He took out a Galleon and was about to place it on the glass counter when Al caught his hand. "What are you doing?"

"Well… I'm paying for the Chocolate Frog…" he said innocently, as if there was nothing wrong about paying with a Galleon for candy.

"It's only a Knut, look at the sign!" Al pointed to the little card in front of the Chocolate Frogs that said "One Knut per Frog". The boy blushed and searched his pouch for a Knut. He pulled it out from the very bottom of his bag and payed the cashier. She took a Chocolate Frog and gave it to the boy. He was about to open it, and instead put it into his robes. Al tilted his head. "I thought you wanted to eat it, right?"

"I did, but now I want to give this to my father." The boy said with a smile. "I wouldn't have been able to Hogwarts or even come here if he hadn't let me." Al smiled.

"I'm starting at Hogwarts this year!"

"No way! It's my first year too!" Al and the boy grinned at each other.

"I'm Albus. You can call me Al." he introduced himself with a smile.

"Scorpius. I've never talked to a wizard my age."

"No way! Me either! All our neighbors are Muggles, and Muggles can't know about wizards." Al smiled at Scorpius. The two of them were finding that they were alike in lots of ways. Scorpius pulled back his sleeve and went to give his father the Chocolate Frog. His father had also said that he would give him a present that he had to pick up while Scorpius would go to get a little sweet treat. Al made sure to tell him to go to the Leaky Cauldron once he talked with his dad.

Al went to Harry's side. He had promised his dad that they would go and buy a wand, and then head to the Leaky Cauldron. Al wondered if Scorpius had ever had a drink in a pub, like butterbeer. He laughed at the thought of his new wizard friend gulping down the sweet drink, like a commoner, when he was obviously rich in galleons and probably had never drunk the amazing concoction. Al shook his head at the stupid idea; Everyone _who was a wizard has tried butterbeer before_ , he thought to himself. He went with Harry to Ollivander's Wand Shop. It was mid-day, which was when most people went to get wands, according to Al's dad, but when they stepped into the the shop, there was no one in there except Ollivander and one other child. Al was delighted by this. This meant that he could get to know the world's most famous wandmaker. He expected Harry to do something, but when he turned around, he was gone. Al turned back to face Ollivander. There was a kid with his father, and looked very displeased by it.

"This wand is cheap, father." The boy said obnoxiously. "It's nothing compared to the wands that you can buy with _our_ money." The boy smirked at the wandmaker. He threw the wand across the room and it was about to break when the wandmaker, with obvious fast reflexes, whipped out his wand and yelled, " _Expelliarmus!"_ and the wand stopped, flipped, and whipped into the wandmaker's hand. He carefully placed it into his case.

"If you believe my wand is cheap and there are better wands out there you can leave." The wandmaker said. The boy's face drained it's color. He looked like he was about to say something, but then the wandmaker put his hand up. It had a large scar, and it was familiar to Al. He gasped when he realized: Ollivander had gotten that scar when he was kidnapped by Lord Voldemort. This was the man that Harry had saved during the last Wizard War!

The other boy was still arguing with Ollivander.

"Well, I was just bartering!" The boy said. Al noticed that the boy's father, who was standing nearby him, still hadn't said anything. Ollivander didn't say anything other than what he said earlier; all he did was point to the door. "Your wands aren't cheap, I was just bartering!" The boy started to plead for what sounded like a second chance, but the old man would not put up with any of it. The boy eventually decided to quit trying to change his mind. He walked out with his father, his long, black robe trailing him. He pushed Al out of the way, and he fell onto a box, which he crushed, and hit his back on the wand boxes inside it. The other boy just looked at him and smirked.

"Peasant." The boy spat. Al got up, without even looking at the boy, and he walked right past him to Ollivander. The old man smiled at the sight of him.

"Albus Potter!" The wand maker delightedly said. "How very nice to see you! How is your father? Is he good? Did he break his wand again?" Ollivander threw several questions at him, but then the other boy spoke.

"Potter? As in Albus Severus Potter, Harry Potter's youngest son?" The boy said. Al turned around and smiled at the boy, who was standing open-mouthed. Then he whipped back around to Ollivander.

"My father's good." Al said, happily ignoring the boy behind him, who was muttering something. "He dropped me off here, and I have no clue where he went. He hasn't broken his wand since the last time you saw him, when he went up against that Death Eater. He was Class III, so it was very dangerous, but Dad broke it when someone yelled Expelliarmus."

"I see, I see." Ollivander mumbled. "He told me he broke it in a dangerous wand fight, but wouldn't say anything other than that. Anyways, enough talk about your father, how are _you_? The last time I saw you, it was two years ago! When your brother came to get a wand." Ollivander had barely finished the last sentence when the other boy, who was still behind them, gasped and quietly, but loudly enough for Al to hear, muttered, "His older brother?!"

"I'm find, sir. I start at Hogwarts this year, but you already know that. I want to get a wand that's as good as James's. And who better to make it?" Al chuckled. He was learning how to barter, almost as good as his father could. Ollivander himself laughed.

"Yes, yes, I remember. James actually got the same type as your father, the type You-Know-Who had." Ollivander said casually. This was nothing casual to Al. Normally, James would have bragged about it for days, weeks, even years. What kept him this time? Then Al registered the second part. _The type You-Know-Who had_ , he had said. This was why James didn't tell him. He didn't want to tell people that he had the same wand as Voldemort. To his surprise, he didn't really know what he thought of that. He was usually never rendered without anything to say or with no opinions on a matter. He usually had something to say about everything. But he could worry about that later. Right now, it was his job to get an efficient wand for the school year.

"What types of wands are there?" Al asked. Ollivander went over to a large shelf of wands. He picked up a certain case, and slid it out. He gave it to Al.

"This one is the wand that your grandfather used." Ollivander said. Al touched it, and it made tiny little sparks. He shot his hand away. Ollivander laughed. "It's not dangerous. Just take it in your hand, grip it tight, and try your hardest to claim it as yours." Al slowly reached his hand out to grasp the wand. It was hard and cold, and gave him a splinter. He gripped it, just like Ollivander said, tightly, and didn't let go. The moment he did that, it sprung out of his hand and flew into a shelf of casings and every single wand from that broke in half. Al was horror-struck. He couldn't believe that had just happened. Ollivander was laughing, though.

"It's fine, Albus, I'll fix the shelf." Ollivander managed in between wheezes. The old man limped over to another wand and pulled it out. This one was in a dark purple casing. Ollivander opened it, and the wand looked strangely familiar to Al. Then, once Ollivander came closer, he got a good look at the wand and realized that it was his mother's wand. He wondered whether all wands that were the same were the same in every way. Maybe they were, and he would have Ginny's wand, which also would result in teasing from James and more reasons to be second to his older brother, obviously the next Harry Potter for another reason.

Al picked up the wand. The moment his fingers and the wand made contact, it flew out of his hand and crashed into another shelf. Al was starting to feel bad about this. He had so far destroyed two 8 feet shelves in less than 30 minutes. This was a record for him, and he had destroyed a lot in his life. No wonder his parents were wary about sending him to Hogwarts.

Ollivander started to chuckle again. "Just like your father and brother, you destroyed almost 3 hours of work in 30 minutes." Al was starting to feel even more guiltier. He knew Ollivander's reputation, and that he was an old man, who was most definitely weak and was doing more work than even Granny Molly was doing. Ollivander didn't seem to mind it, though, because he reached for one more wand. It was on a shelf, and the box seemed very familiar. Ollivander held the open box out to Al. "I don't believe this wand needs an introduction. Whether or not you recognize it, it is soon to be yours, I am sure."

Al reached for the wand and grasped it in his hands. He lifted it, and it began to glow. It was warm, and suddenly, Al wanted to keep it forever. He recognized it immediately: it was his father's wand, his brother's wand, and Voldemort's wand. He had the wand that he always dreamed of having. It was finally his. And the feeling of that was amazing.

Al looked at Ollivander, who had a smile on his face. It seemed the old wandmaker had just wanted to add an effect to the wand becoming Al's by giving it to him on his third try, and it worked. Al smiled at him while he took out 10 Galleons, which he knew was more than enough to get a wand. He placed it on the table and backed away to the door. He bumped into the obnoxious boy on his way out, who fell, and because Al was quite mischievous, he just smiled at him, waved and walked out, while the other boy sat with his mouth wide open.

 **Extra A/N: Sorry for the short delay! I had to get this chapter out while I had schoolwork to catch up on, because this was a very, very busy week for me, as I had to get all types of stuff done. I didn't have time to edit this chapter, so I might edit this chapter over the week, but just a quick notice; the next chapter is only 4 pages, so I'll only upload a little bit on Tumblr, because that chapter will still be separated into a half.**

 **Hope you guys have a wonderful week!**

 **~TBO~**


	4. Paradise in Pain

**A/N: I forgot to add my Tumblr name to the last chapter (sorry 'bout that), so here it is: fanfiction4_life. If that doesn't come up, then just go to .com and look through my posts until you find the link for my fanfiction blog. That one, I'm not frequent on, so please understand san :P**

 **Also, I promised a short chapter, and I delivered it. It's only 5 pages, which is over what I said I would do, but normally I do 6-8 pages, so be happy and don't get all cranky or whatev.**

 **Anyways, here is the chapter. Extra A/N at the end!**

 **Let us begin...**

Chapter Four: Paradise in Pain

Al ran as fast as he could to the Leaky Cauldron. When he reached it, he made sure to wave to Mrs. Abbott-Longbottom on the way. She waved back, and pointed to Scorpius. Al sat across from him. The shy boy seemed completely uncomfortable in this new environment, of drunk men and women snogging in public, flirting like complete idiots. Al wanted to laugh at it all. It was almost as if everyone here was a species of crazy wild animals, and Scorpius was a little squirrel, wondering how the hell people live in peace like this.

It took all of Al's will to prevent him from laughing at Scorpius. It didn't help that his shy friend shrieked when Al snuck up behind him.

"Merlin, you scared me, Albus!" Scorpius yelled.

"You don't have to call me Albus, you know." Al said. Scorpius looked at him peculiarly. Al chuckled. "I have a nickname. It's Al. And you called me that earlier and said that you weren't up for nicknames." Scorpius seemed to understand what he was talking about.

"Oh yeah! I remember!" He exclaimed. Al raised his hand and motioned for Mrs. Abbott-Longbottom to come over. He put up two fingers, for two butterbeers. Mrs. Abbott motioned for him to come over.

"I'll be right back, just got to say hi to someone." Al told Scorpius, who was still looking completely uncomfortable. Slowly, the boy nodded, and reached inside his robes and clutched his fingers around his galleon pouch. It was obvious he didn't trust anyone.

Al walked over to Mrs. Abbott. She leaned in toward his ear to whisper something.

"That's Draco Malfoy's son, Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy." Mrs. Abbott said steadily. Al's eyes widened. This was his father's childhood rival's son. Then Al realized that he didn't really care, to his utter surprise. Scorpius shouldn't be judged for who his father is, or was, and should be able to be recognized for his own actions, not the actions of others.

"I know you're just watching out for me," Al said, "but I can make friends on my own, Mrs. Abbott. No hard feelings, but it would really be better if people would realize that kids should be judged by their actions and personality, not the one that the things their parents did or the type of people they were when they were younger or anything in that area." He felt pretty proud of himself for saying all of this. Mrs. Abbott seemed to be impressed too, because she smiled.

"I wanted to hear just that." She smiled. "The poor kid's got practically no one. We've got to let him decide who he is, instead of forcing him into becoming his father. I think you know this better than anyone, Al." She gave him a look that made Al blush and know she was talking about him always being compared to . "Also, Al," she continued, "I don't think the kid's ever had butterbeer before." She winked at him, and Al made it his mission to make sure that Scorpius had a proper childhood, with absolutely no maturity.

Mrs. Abbott handed him two butterbeers, and Al walked back to the table where Scorpius was. He, meanwhile, was trying not to interfere the lengthy snog session of two drunk adults, wearing what his parents called "unacceptable public clothing". It made Al laugh quite hard, seeing his friend dealing with this. It was also hilarious seeing Scorpius not being able to take it anymore.

"Stop snogging in public you baboons!" He yelled. The couple looked at him, obviously still drunk, and then shrugged and walked away. Al was laughing so hard that he couldn't breathe. He walked back to the table, still laughing, and couldn't even look Scorpius in the eye without laughing even harder. He looked absolutely angry, confused and annoyed, obviously at Al.

"It's not natural or acceptable to snog in public, Al." Scorpius said, obviously taking this matter completely seriously.

"You could almost say it's… _supernatural_." Al laughed at his reference. Living with Muggles had taught him how to annoy people and also confuse them at the same time. Wizards hadn't started to watch TV until recently, and Scorpius was a Malfoy, and they wouldn't use Muggle technology if their life depended on it. Or that was what his parents had taught them about the family. Then Al reminded himself not to judge Scorpius because of his parents. Just to judge him on what he knew about Scorpius's personality.

"I don't get it." Scorpius said, making Al laugh even harder. He set the butterbeers down and pushed one over to Scorpius.

"Butterbeer." Al said. Scorpius looked at him. Al sighed. "It's the greatest drink made by wizards. Have you had it before?" Scorpius shook his head. Al sighed again and rubbed his nose bridge. "Just try it. Sometimes you disappoint me."

Scorpius picked up the drink and took a sip. The moment his lips touched the foam, his eyes lit up and he gulped down the whole drink.

"Damn, Al, that is one good concoction." Scorpius said. Al was terrified. He had just witnessed an 11-year-old gulping down a pub drink, and no matter how little it has, butterbeer is still made of alcohol. Al wondered what Scorpius would do if he had more. While he knew that Mr. Malfoy would be angry at Scorpius for drinking butterbeer, Al had to know what would be his limit.

"Let's have a contest." Al said. Scorpius already smirked, which made the competition already begin to stir. "We'll order as many butterbeers as we need to, but the first person to puke is going to be the loser." Al didn't need to explain any more; Scorpius had already yelled for more butterbeer. Mrs. Abbott could tell that the two boys were competing by the look on their faces, and brought along enough butterbeer to last for at least two rounds.

The 11-year-olds chugged down every last gulp, and ended up tying, because they both puked at exactly the same time, which resulted in them being banned from having any more drinks that day (although Mrs. Abbott would probably sneak some butterbeer when someone wasn't looking for Scorpius).

Scorpius and Al were laughing. While Al drank some apple juice (which tasted disgusting compared to the butterbeer but helped him go back to his regular self) and Scorpius drank more butterbeer, this time taking his time to slowly enjoy the Leaky Cauldron speciality. He and Mrs. Abbott had already hit it off, and that would mean that perhaps Mr. Longbottom would forget that Scorpius was the son of his childhood bully.

"So, Al, did your parents go to Hogwarts?" Scorpius asked. Al nodded his head yes.

"Yeah, they're friends with most of the teachers there." Al thought for a moment and realized he had forgotten a crucial detail. "Also, my parents are Harry and Ginny Potter."

This, of course, resulted in Scorpius spitting his whole drink out, and all over the couple who were snogging earlier, now snogging at another table, and they glared before walking out. Scorpius blushed. Al seriously couldn't stop laughing. He noticed that Scorpius was a lot different from his father. He was kind, innocent and very properly mannered, while his father was supposedly a complete snobbish brat. Or that was what Harry and Uncle Ron made him sound like.

"You're Albus Severus Potter?" Scorpius said. Al nodded yes. "I can't believe it! You guys actually look alike! My father told me not to acquaint you guys, but I think you're a lot different than the person my father knew. Don't worry. I won't judge you for the relationship your father and mine had." Scorpius definitely thought a lot like Al did.

Just then, they heard a deep voice calling Scorpius.

"Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy! Get your arse over here right now!" He yelled. Scorpius looked up and whispered "father!". The two boys got up to go to their parents when they heard a voice yell "Dolorem!". The boys screamed, because never before had their heads hurt so much. They fell to the ground, and Al closed his eyes to sleep.

* * *

"I don't think that's all that Dolorem does." Grace said after Al told his story. James looked at her with a peculiar look. She sighed and pulled her book out again. "Headmistress McGonagall gave me this book so that I could do some extra studying and expand my knowledge on Dark Arts spells, since she thinks I would be the perfect candidate for it once we graduate." James rolled his eyes playfully, and she glared at him before continuing. "Anyways, all spells have groupings. Dolorem doesn't have one, though, and I believe this is because this book is very old, before even more specific spell groups, Dolorem isn't listed. My theory is that this is because it is a Silenced curse. Not to make people quiet, but because it is a spell that is never supposed to be talked about. Mrs. Granger-Weasley said we shouldn't talk about it, and that is because the Ministry is supposed to make sure that the public doesn't know certain properties of it. Maybe that's why the newspaper doesn't say much about it. It just says names it, and I saw Mrs. Granger-Weasley talking to Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley about how she has to go to the Ministry to 'sort stuff out'. "

"In conclusion, you guys might have just survived a curse that was supposed to give off more dangerous effects. Sometimes these effects don't show through, but hopefully we are able to find them before they become permanent or have properties that kill people, and the reason we don't know much about this is because the Ministry doesn't want us to. " Grace looked at James for a reaction. He seemed very interested in this, and took the book from her. While she protested, he turned to another page.

"I think that Headmistress was trying to tell us something." James said. Grace looked at him, obviously thinking he was dramatic. "What? She has a whole bunch of dangerous curses in here that we've never heard of. Look, there's Dolorem, Laproplus, and Fendermus, all which are supposed to have killing effects if carried out correctly, and Al, Lily and I were all hit by these." Grace gave him another look, obviously still not believing him. "Al was hit by Dolorem, Lily was hit by Laproplus and I was hit by Fendermus. And look at this, they are all supposed to have secret effects, and they are all supposed to kill, or torture at the least. I bet you right now that if we asked Aunt Hermione, they would turn out to be illegal curses, and perhaps she hasn't even heard of them." He gave Grace a look that she didn't argue with. Al realized that what he said was right. When James was 9 years old, he was hit by Fendermus, and started to act strangely, like staying away from snakes and getting terrified whenever he heard one. Lily was hit by Laproplus when she was 5, and started to mutter things in her sleep and randomly predict things during dinners or whenever everyone was being quiet.

James leaned in to whisper something. Everyone else leaned it to listen.

"I think that maybe, just maybe, the secret effects are supposed to be powers." Grace scoffed and hit his arm.

"Jeez, James, you dramatic little princess. Come on, it's not like you have any powers, right?" Grace chuckled. It seemed like she expected some witty response, but that's not what she got. James just sat in silence, and she got a very concerned look on her face.

"I… I have powers." He said. He sighed before continuing. "I can talk to snakes. I hear them talking to me whenever I go outside. Some of them tell me stuff like 'Hello, Master James' or some other dramatic trash, but others say things like 'He sees you here' or 'You're doom is near'. I can't live with them always talking to me. That's why I got mum and dad to get us to move to Godric's Hollow. It's supposed to be the only place where snakes don't dare to go. Originally they lived with Gran in the burrow, but once I got hit, they moved straight there. And Al's head hurt, and now look." James reached out and moved some of Al's hair out of his face. Everyone around Al gasped.

"Al… your forehead…" Grace said. Al, meanwhile was busy trying to swat James's hands away.

"It's the scar that Uncle Harry has." Rose said. So far, she hadn't said anything about anything, and James had forgotten that Scorpius and Rose were actually sitting there. Scorpius was completely silent about the whole thing, probably wondering how such a regular kid could have all this happen to him. He thought about what Scorpius would think of all this. As if by luck, he was immediately given a response.

"Do we get to fight Death Eaters? " Scorpius blurted out. Everyone laughed at him. "I mean, are we going to do this on a regular basis? I don't believe my parents will let me do this, they're not like the Potters or Weasleys, although sometimes, I wish they were." This made everyone laugh even harder, and James patted his shoulder.

"First off, let's hope that we do." James chuckled. "We're not exactly innocent children. And it's not like our parents let us do whatever we want. Al and I, our mum and dad are the most overprotective parents ever. Understand that this isn't something that our parents are going along with." Scorpius looked tense after the last sentence. James thought he might have just ticked him off and gotten rid of the chance that they would get him on their side. Luckily, Rose came to the rescue of James's poorly chosen words.

"Don't worry, Scorp. It's not like this is something that's not a choice for you." she said. "Just know that it could be dangerous, and that if you ever need to back out, it may take time and put your safety at risk. If you join though, and stay committed, you could really make a change in the world. Maybe even make some amazing friends along the way." Rose smiled at him, and Scorpius immediately started to tear up.

"I've… I've never had friends." he managed to say in between sobs. "My parents' reputation is really bad, and I thought that people would judge me for what they did nineteen years ago, when I'm not really like them, and they aren't the people they used to be." Rose hugged him, and he was caught by surprise at first, but hugged back. Al wondered whether those two would get in trouble for being friends. It wouldn't stop them from being friends, but he wondered what their parents would say about it.

 **Extra A/N: I was wondering if you guys wanted me to put this story on Quotev. If you want, I can, but since I'm already doing it on Tumblr, I'm not really sure. I might just out the Tumblr updates since I already was planning on deleting my other series. Also, I'm going to start a SPN fanfic, possibly a Wholock one. Tell me in a review, please, if you think it's a good idea!**

 **See you guys next week (I thought that updating would please you guys!)!**


	5. Platform 9 34

**A/N: First, I thought it would be funny to make a couple of harmless references. Let's just say Superwholock+Harry Potter= Fandom AWESOMENESS. I'm sorry, but I ship it too much. Just imagine the Winchester brothers and Cas walking in and turning out to be the new DA Teachers, or the Doctor (or better yet, River) or Sherlock teaching some other subject! It would literally be the most hilarious thing I had ever seen, and I would probably spend several days just reading it over and over, because I SHIP IT.**

 **There's a funny little segment on the Kardashians and Jenners. If you're not in middle school yet and know who the Kardashians and Jenners are, that's not a good sign. If you're not in middle school yet, why are you even on this site?!**

 **Also, this is officially my shortest chapter yet. I am turning very lazy. But hey, it means that I can get chapters out on time, right?**

 **Now, on to the story (and interesting chapter, but very hard to write)...**

Chapter Five: Platform 9 3/4

A month had passed since they had gone to Diagon Alley. Al and Scorpius went over to each other's houses a lot, and slowly, they became really good friends, along with Rose, who came along too. The Floo Network was now connected from the Burrow, where they always met, to Godric's Hollow and Malfoy Manor, so that Scorpius and Al could easily reach the Burrow. The night before they would depart to go to the Hogwarts Express, the three kids stayed at the Burrow, which was closest to the station out of all three houses. That night, they were packing their last things, and though their parents said they should be going to sleep for the big day coming, they couldn't just go to sleep peacefully when the most important day of their lives was coming up.

"I'm scared for the Sorting." Scorpius said. He had told the others that he wanted to be in Gryffindor, which was what lots of his new friends were going to be in, but his father would be upset, which he never, ever wanted to do. "Should I just keep it from them if I end up in Gryffindor?"

"Well, whether _you_ tell them or not, it's Professor Longbottom's job to send home a status report for the first week." James said. "As the Deputy Headmaster, he tells the parents what house you're in, what kids you're bunking with, what classes you take, and he also sends home a lot of different rules for the parents to follow when sending presents, and also what supplies the kid might have to bring if they forgot anything. Hey, did any of us get pets?" The trip to Diagon Alley was only remembered as the time when Al and Scorpius got attacked. James, and a lot of other people, forgot all the other things that happened there.

"I got a cat," Rose said, still reading her book, "I named her Klass." Hugo, who was now hanging around them more, gave her a weird look, and so did James. "What?! That's Kylie Jenner's nickname." Scorpius looked at her funny, and so did Hugo and Lily, who were both nine and far too young to know who the Kardashians and Jenners were. Grace nudged her and whispered in her ear. Rose turned the color of her hair, and went back to reading.

"Who is Kylie Jenner?" Scorpius asked. Grace and James looked at each other. Al started to stifle his laughter. Unluckily for them, Uncle George saw and came over.

"Something funny?" he asked. Scorpius nodded.

"Who is Kylie Jenner?" he repeated. Uncle George's mouth went agape and his eyes turned wide. Al couldn't hold it back and laughed. James and Grace tried to stop him, but it was too late; Harry, Ginny, Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione walked over. Uncle George looked at them.

"You mates can handle this." he said and ran away. Ginny looked at Aunt Hermione and already knew that it wasn't something good.

"Why won't anyone tell me who Kylie Jenner is?" Scorpius was beginning to get a little irritated. "And what's a 'Kardashian'? Is it some sort of perfume brand or something?" Uncle Ron was confused, being a Pure-Blood and never paying attention to Muggle news, but Aunt Hermione, Ginny and Harry all looked at each other. Uncle George began to laugh in the background. It was too much for Al; he began to laugh, but no noise came out. All he did was clap. James looked at him funny.

"You look like a retarded seal." he said. Grace pushed him, and James pushed her back. Soon, the whole Burrow was chaotic, and eventually a knock came on the door. Aunt Hermione looked outside and told everyone to stop using magic, since it was a Muggle here.

"Listen, pretty lady," the man said, looking her in the eye, "my kids have to start school tomorrow. I don't want you to start bothering them in the middle of the night." he eyed James and Al behind her, waving innocently, then sticking their tongues out and making incredibly rude gestures. They were very lucky Aunt Hermione and Ginny had their backs turned, or the two boys were very likely to be punished with spanks and dish-cleaning duty. Uncle Ron and Harry were laughing so hard at James and Al that they were red in the face, acting as Al had just minutes ago.

"Look at your absolutely rude sons! They are mocking me!" the Muggle man yelled and pushed past Aunt Hermione. The moment he stepped in, he noticed all the strange gimmicks in the room. Deciding to exit before anything else strange happened, he walked out slowly. Once he was about ten feet away from the Burrow, he turned around and ran back to his cottage as fast as he could. Everyone laughed, before the adults called lights-out again. Morning was nearing, and they most definitely were looking forward to it.

XXX

They woke up and packed the last of the things they would need. They dressed in their best Muggle clothing and walked out, straight to the limo waiting for them. While it was a magical car, it was charmed so that anyone on the outside saw it as a very old Muggle car, one that James and Al specifically chose, a 1967 Chevy Impala, 327, 4-barrel, V-8 engine, automatic, 4-dr, Hardtop, the one that the Winchester brothers from Supernatural drive. They stepped into the limo, and found that it was bigger on the inside. Grace and James looked at each other. They loved to make random references to their favorite TV shows. It was quite obvious that they were the nerds of the family.

"It's smaller on the outside!" Grace said.

"Ok, _that's_ a first." James said back. The two laughed and went to the back compartment with Al, Rose and Scorpius. Lily and Hugo were staying with their parents, since they were known for being completely destructive when they were with their siblings.

"Nervous nervous nervous." Scorpius muttered while sweating. Rose was reading a Muggle book, the Fault in Our Stars, by John Green. She hadn't said much since they woke up. Usually they all had a lengthy discussion during breakfast, but the adults agreed to having a late brunch, and the kids could enjoy the best waffles and pancakes in the world on the Hogwarts Express.

The limo started once everyone had a seat, and Grace immediately took out her phone and sent a text message to James. He took out his phone and replied. The two, who were sitting right next to each other, were texting each other. Al and Rose sighed and whispered "teenagers" to each other. Finally, Rose "attacked" James and stole his phone out of his hand. She read aloud the messages.

 _Want to tell them about our little "friend's" welcome?_

 _GKM_

 _Not yet. They can figure it out for themselves._

 _JSP_

 _You sure? Won't they get a bit frightened, like when we found out?_

 _GKM_

 _Strike one, Sherlock_

 _JSP_

Rose stared at the two third-years, who were blushing at first, and then realized that the others had no idea what they were talking about.

"Drop it." James said before anyone could say anything. Rose sighed, but let it go. They sat in silence, knowing that the adults were in the seats just behind the door, and at any given moment they could burst in to listen to their conversation. Eventually, after what felt like about two hours, the limo stopped and they got out to board the Hogwarts Express.

The station was huge. They all got out of the car, and the chauffeur brought out their things. Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy stepped out of the limo, then Harry and Ginny, then Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione. They were smiling from one ear to the next, and they were completely mature, as if the people who were laughing at the intolerant Muggle's reaction to the two prankster boys didn't exist. Al had to be honest; he wanted to be like them, a _lot_ like them. The ground began to shake, and suddenly a huge train hurtled past, and Mrs. Malfoy screamed. Mr. Malfoy was about to whip out his wand when Aunt Hermione whispered something to him and he turned slightly red. His wife gave him a look that quite obviously asked what Aunt Hermione had said.

"Muggle transportation of some sort." he said. When he used the word "muggle", many people, obviously non-wizards, looked at him like he was speaking gibberish. Scorpius was silent during the whole thing.

"Everything our parents do end up becoming so _mature_." Scorpius said. "It's like they're used to the paparazzi always pestering them. Rose looked up from her Muggle book.

"They are. Come on, my parents and aunt and uncle are literally in the news every day for one reason or another. It's that horrible woman, Rita Skeeter. One day, I'll shove it in her face, and she'll regret every last rumor she made about them." Rose was now clutching her book with such a scary grip that Grace came over and took it from her.

"Come on, you'll enjoy how we get to the Express Platform, as I call it." she smiled slyly, and Al didn't want to know what she had in mind.

They took their luggage, which was now in a cart, past a bunch of platforms, and stopped in between Platform 9 and Platform 10. There were three pillars in between the two platforms, and stopped at the one closest to Platform 10.

"Here's the fun part." James said. "We have run into the pillar." Al, Rose and Scorpius all looked at him like him was crazy.

"We have to what?!" Rose shrieked. Grace covered her mouth.

"Not so loud!" she whispered. People began to stare at them. The conductors eyed them suspiciously, but didn't do much more than that. Grace sighed. "Yes, we have to run into the pillar, and it transports us to the other platform. I'll go first, because everyone else is so chicken." She was about to head into the pillar when James stopped her.

"I'll go." he said. Al heard her mutter "my hero" sarcastically as James ran into the pillar and disappeared. Their parents were being annoyed by the gossip column reporters of different magazines, Rita Skeeter at the front. Grace smiled and took out her wand. She muttered "Langlock" and quickly departed as Rita suddenly started to speak gibberish, and her quill started to splat all over the place. Confused, Harry told the reporters he needed to go and walked with Ginny into the pillar, no Muggles had seen yet, and they did it in such a way that Al was not surprised they were high class celebrities. Even with all the rumors circling around them, people couldn't do anything to make them sound terrible, especially the Daily Prophet's gossip column.

"Come on, Al." Grace said. "I'll go after you." Al looked at her and shrugged. He focused on the pillar and thought about everything that would happen once he passed through. Maybe he would become the next Savior, like his father. Maybe he would become an Auror, or a Quidditch player. Whatever he would be, Hogwarts was the place where wizards came to be successes. Al took a deep breath. He concentrated on the pillar. _Now or never_ , he thought to himself. He ran into the pillar, and it transported him to the biggest train platform he had ever seen. A voice behind him began to speak.

"Welcome to the Hogwarts Express Platform."

 **Extra A/N: I updated early this week for you guys since I won't be able to update on Fridays, like I normally do. We're going to be moving soon, and I don't want to disrupt my writing process and screw the whole thing up, so I have to practice writing earlier and faster than usual. In case you were wondering, I'm moving to London, England. Wish me luck!**

 **~TBO~**


	6. The Hogwarts Express

**A/N: Okay, so since the whole Platform 9 ¾ part is explained already in the epilogue of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, I thought I would go more in-depth with what they did on the train and who they met. Sorry for any mistakes I made, and before you write your critical reviews, I also explained right after some of my deliberate "mistakes", since much had to have changed in 19 years, and Headmistress McGonagall isn't as "careless" as Dumbledore and was very thorough on the safety of the students.**

 **I might change the age rating for this to Teen, but tell me if I start to go into the Teen rage. Along with that, my Supernatural fanfiction, which is coming along okay, btw, is definitely going to be at least a Teen rating, perhaps a Mature one. Sorry if you guys can't read stuff like that, but sometimes writers go out of their comfort zone to see if they can expand their abilities.**

 **Let us begin with the story...**

Chapter Six: The Hogwarts Express

Al turned around and saw Grace smiling. James was catching up with some of his wizarding friends, two of them who Al recognized. James walked over with them.

"Hey, Al, meet my fam!" James yelled. He pointed to one of them, with dirty blonde hair and brown eyes. "This is Carl Brown, Lavender Brown's son. She used to date Uncle Ron, when they were kids. Sixth year, in fact."

"She gets irked when she reads about Mr. and Mrs. Weasley in the paper, but I know that you guys aren't that bad. You can't be, right?" Carl said, and it was obvious that there was a bit of tension in the conversation. Al, being someone who knows that success is backed by friendship, simply shook his head.

"Nah, they're nothing like that." Al made a hand motion to show that it was just rumors. "Plus, they're daughter, Rose, is starting this year. She's practically the two put together, and without the whole 'I'm an adult and you have to listen to me' attitude." Al and James laughed, but Carl still looked uneasy. James tickled him, and the seemingly obnoxious boy giggled before calling out to another boy, who was talking to a girl who had her head stuck out of the train door. She smiled at him as he waved and walked toward James.

"Now this, this is Maxum Powers." James said. He fist-bumped with the other boy, who was very handsome. He had blonde hair in front of his eyes, and his green eyes made him an obvious ladies man, reminding Al of Jensen Ackles from Supernatural. Literally, he looked exactly like him, the same handsomeness, and every single girl who was walking onto the train pointed at him, and he waved to them and smiled so widely that Al realized that he wasn't just any handsome boy. It was strange, he forgot that his parents were famous, and obviously James's friend circle would be the most popular one.

"Hey there." Maxum said, in a deep voice. "You must be Albus. I'm a Muggle-born, so there's probably not much bad-blood family-wise as there is between Carl and James." Maxum whispered the last part to Al so that James couldn't hear. Meanwhile, he and Carl were bickering about something Quidditch related. Maxum saw Al staring. "Oh yeah, Carly's a Hornets fan, and doesn't really like the Cannons. Meanwhile, Jamsie here is _obsessed_ with them." Al laughed at his remark.

"Tell me about it, he's my brother." Al chuckled. "I'm a Cannons fan, though. You?" Maxum thought for a moment.

"Cannons. The Hornets supposedly haven't won much for the past couple of seasons, but then again, I'm more involved in Hogwarts Quidditch than the international games. Plus, I'm a Muggle-Born, so I don't know too much." At this point, Grace had walked up behind him and scared him. Maxum yelled and turned around.

"Jeez, you scared me!" he yelled at her while she laughed.

"Come on, we've got to get on. Let's get some good seats before they're all taken up." Grace turned to Al. "Make sure to get a good compartment, with Rose and Scorpius. Maybe we'll have compartments next to each other." She ran onto the train with Maxum, who waved to a group of blondes who were staring at Grace. The moment she disappeared, they started to scowl, and began to talk about her.

"She's such a hog." one of them said. "We all know the only reason she hangs around with them is because she wants attention." They threw their hair back, and Al began to grow a disliking to them. He walked away, looking for Rose, when a bunch of people began to look at him. Whispers were exchanged all around.

"Is that Harry Potter's son?"

"Ya, that's Albus Severus Potter."

"His parents are really famous, right?"

"He's kinda hot…"

"Jeez, Mary, make up your mind! Him or James? Or Hugo, their cousin?"

All around, all types of rubbish comments were made about him. Al decided to be more like his parents and stopped slouching. He put a huge smile on his face and walked past all of them, toward Rose and Scorpius, who were leaning against the pillar next to Platform 9 ¾. They beamed at the sight of Al.

"Hey, Al, let's go get a compartment." Rose said. Al nodded, and so did Scorpius. They walked off toward the train, and once they boarded, everyone stared at the three of them. Al realized how odd it must look, he and Rose looked fine, but with Scorpius, everything just looked completely out of order. The Malfoy and Potter Heirs were walking side by side, best friends. Maybe some kids were wondering whether they would be the new Golden Trio. Al smiled at the thought. They got into a compartment, which happened to be right next to James and Grace's. Maxum's head popped out of it.

"Hey, little James!" he said. He eyed Rose, who was reading a book with black nerdy glasses, and Al already knew that Maxum was thinking about how he could woo her. It was quite funny, seeing his brother's friends trying to get Rose to fall in love with them. Rose looked at him and didn't even take more than a glance before looking back down into her book and going into the compartment.

"She's not available." Scorpius said and walked in. Maxum and Al looked at each other, and Al shrugged.

"Kinda like the gay friend in your group, ey?" Maxum smirked. Al rolled his eyes. _A real heart-breaker_ , Al said to himself. He walked into his compartment, and his jaw dropped. Whatever descriptions his parents had given were nothing compared to what he saw in front of him. James and Grace were right; they didn't know what it was like now.

The compartment was probably as big as a studio. It had four beds, all against walls. There were two white beds, and the ones that were claimed were already personalized. Rose's was red and black, and had bleeding roses, along with her favorite music artists written at the top, such as My Chemical Romance, Melanie Martinez, Twenty One Pilots and Panic! At The Disco. It was true punky haven. The wall it was resting on was red and black, and had a large portrait of her face on it, along with all her music logos and the Supernatural anti-demon symbol and Dan and Phil on the portrait too.

Scorpius had a different custom area, with a simple black, green and white bed, a white pillow and mattress, green comforters and the rest all black. His wall had a portrait of his face, serious but with a small, happy glow and lit up the dark colors of his area.

Al set his stuff down on the bed right next to Scorpius's and diagonal from Rose's, and it immediately turned red and gold, and had a bright phoenix on the comforter. The pillow was gold, and the mattress red. The wood was light brown, and the wall had his face on it, smiling brightly and surrounded by red and gold. He screamed and fell over when his face appeared on the wall. Rose laughed as she walked in, carrying a tray with four cups of tea with her. They eyed the empty bed, and wondered who would venture in.

"I didn't know it was supposed to look like this!" Al cried. Rose shrugged.

"Lots of things change in 19 years. Plus, the Hogwarts Express has to go through a different route, which is a lot safer than the one it used to. The trip takes a week now, and we have our own kitchen and bathrooms!" She pointed at the doors on the side. There was one with a frying pan tossing eggs, and above it was a sign that said, "Kitchen". There was a door to its left that had a blue spark and a boy bathroom sign, and then a door to its right that had a pink spark and a girl bathroom sign. There were large shelves on the walls next to the doors, one of them was pink and red, another one was green and black, and a third was red and gold. They were labeled with their names, and they were filled with little trinkets. Al felt his duffel bag, the one with his books that he wanted to read on the train, start to move, and Al took it off. It flew to the shelf. He smiled. This trip was already getting good.

The compartment opened. James, Maxum, Carl and Grace walked in. Carl eyed Rose, and she tilted her head.

"Oh, guys, this is Rose Weasley, my cousin, and Scorpius Malfoy, a family friend." James introduced his friend. Carl eyed Rose Scorpius with a strange look, but didn't do much more.

"Rose, Scorpius, this is Carl Brown, or Lavender Brown's son, and Maxum Powers, a Muggle-born." Maxum stepped forward and fist bumped both of them, but Carl just began to back out. Al didn't like this kid already, he was certain.

"Hey there, ginger." Maxum flirted to Rose, who now had pulled out her Muggle book, and seemed to have skimmed it very quickly, already down to the last couple of pages. "How are you liking the Hogwarts Express?" Rose just gave him a sarcastic look at replied by looking back down. "Not liking, I guess." he said. Rose stuck a finger in the air, and Maxum began to smirk. James was holding back what was obvious laughter.

"He does this to see if he can get every girl at Hogwarts to like him." James said. "Maxum has a winning streak, but I don't know if Rose will fall for him." Al knew that Rose wouldn't fall for anyone she considered an anti-feminist, but Maxum was really handsome, and matched all of the things that Rose looked for in a guy, physically. _Perhaps,_ Al thought to himself. He watched as Maxum smiled at her, and then listened to something Grace was saying to Scorpius about keeping his bed arranged, so his tongue kind of sat in between his teeth, and it was obvious that he was just one of those naturally handsome people.

They talked for some more time, and then the train began to move. Grace checked her watch and looked out the window.

"The food should come in about five minutes, at seven forty." Grace told James, who was miserable, obviously hungry. He groaned and jumped on the extra bed, which was still unclaimed. The boys all were starving, and couldn't stand even a minute with complaining about the emptiness in their stomachs. Finally, an old woman popped her head into the compartment

"We've got bacon, eggs and sausage. There's also tea, milk or water-based." The woman said with a smile. "Just press the large red button in the kitchen, and it should allow you to get the tables set up. If you want to serve the food yourself, you can, or otherwise just click the House Elf Summoning button. It's not that hard to miss, it says 'House Elf Summoning' on it." The woman then winked and closed the compartment. Grace nodded to Rose, and they both walked over to the kitchen to get breakfast. When they shut the door, immediately a table and seven chairs escalated from the ground. Grace and Rose walked back in, and then a ding came, and a small house-elf walked in, carrying two trays of food. After everything was served, everyone sat down to eat.

XXX

Once everyone was done eating, the house elf came back and gathered the plates. The train rode on, and they all talked for at least half an hour when everyone started to just repeat the same conversations.

"Let's watch TV." James said. He went over to the empty shelf and took a remote. He pointed it at the large flat screen on the wall. Meanwhile, Grace was talking to Rose about Hogwarts using Muggle contraptions.

"It's because many Muggle-borns get seriously homesick, and leave Hogwarts early. To help them get accustomed, Professor McGonagall made a whole bunch of changes to Hogwarts, many of them more Muggle-friendly, and some of them are just for the gain of students. Either way, they were necessary changes, as I can't really survive without them anymore." Grace looked at Maxum to back her up.

"Yeah, I can't imagine living without Wifi or my phone." he said, and gave a cheeky smile. She took a tray and whacked him over the side with a two glared at each other, before talking freely again. Al thought they were exactly like brother and sister.

"Anyways, Hogwarts now uses things like cellphones, for easy communication, computers, for easy research, and television, for a quick access to outside news. All these things can also be sold at Hogsmeade, so that you have one specifically for Hogwarts school-work, and one just for free time." Grace rummaged through her bag, one that Al knew Muggles used, a Michael Kors, and she pulled out an iPhone 5S, which was protected by a case that said Blah Blah Blah, resulting in James calling it Blah Blah phone.

"I have one too. Mum brought me one." Rose said, and pulled out her own iPhone 5S, which had a case that said "I Survived the Mishapocalypse" and then a picture of Misha Collins, who was her celebrity crush. Grace smirked and pointed to a little face below the Blah Blah Blah that looked awfully like Sam Winchester. Rose began to get a little annoyed and pulled out a laptop, which had a huge anti-possession sticker over the Apple design. Grace pulled out her own computer, with a TARDIS covering the top. Rose pulled out a fake version of the Colt. Grace pulled out a screwdriver, with a small yellow bullet Smiley Face on it. Rose resorted to the last comeback that she could think of.

She threw a piece of toast at her.

After everyone was done laughing, Grace and Rose included, Al noticed Maxum eyeing the two girls with a look of satisfaction on his face. Al wondered what he could possibly be thinking about.

They all decided that it was time to stop talking and making references to their favorite Muggle TV-Shows, and instead show a couple on the screen. To their surprise, Scorpius spoke up.

"Can we watch Sherlock?" he asked. Everyone turned to him. Scorpius blushed. "I… I was at the Muggle Museum for Wizards when I saw this thing called a television. I asked Mother to get it for me, and she did. I have one in my room, and Father doesn't know about it. He probably will, and I'll get a Howler for it, but so far, Mother hasn't told him." Al looked at Rose, who was staring at him in pure astonishment. Everyone began to try and stifle laughter.

"Scorpius… come on, let's watch some Sherlock." Carl said. He finally had contributed to the conversation, obviously wary because Rose was in the same room. She scowled at him. Al, deciding that interfering in whatever revenge plan Rose had was against his better judgment, turned around and sat on the couch, which had just replaced the table and chairs, and sighed as they all watched Sherlock from the first episode, a Study In Pink. They were all peacefully watching the show. While it was a good thing their parents didn't see them watching, they all had smiles on their face as they watched. All seemed well, but the only thing they didn't see was a boy watching them from the compartment window, wondering whether his father would be proud of him after he finished with his goal of becoming the greatest wizard in history, getting rid of his potential rivals first.

 **Extra A/N: Sorry for all the references, if you don't understand them...**


	7. Love and War

**A/N: Ok, while most of you won't need this, SPOILER WARNING for those of you who haven't watched Sherlock! It's just the first season, but it's the finale, and to be honest, I guess most people watch Doctor Who and SPN over Sherlock, though a warning is harmless. The parts with the spoilers aren't too important, but they give sort of a glimpse at who Maxum and Carl are, along with their relationships with everyone. I also finally get to let out all my theories for how Sherlock got away (I don't know if the BBC episodes showed how Sherlock escaped Moriarty in the first season, but the Netflix episodes definitely didn't).**

 **I also just noticed that Carl Brown and Maxum Powers put together can make Carl Powers, or the first kid that Moriarty supposedly killed (the one in TGG, who was killed and had the sneakers and stuff), and I swear to god that it was accidental. No, I swear to Cas (a story for another time)**

 **Now, let us end this Author's Note here and begin with our new chapter...**

Chapter Seven: Love and War

They spent the rest of the morning (and part of the afternoon) watching Sherlock, and while they were finishing up the end of Season 1, with Sherlock pointing the gun at Moriarty, and the credits rolled down, everyone groaned, and began to fantasize about how Sherlock and John escaped.

"Maybe they shot Moriarty." Carl said. Maxum, who was finally being serious about something, started to make a shooing motion with his hand.

"No, you idiot, then Moriarty wouldn't be alive." Maxum grunted, obviously annoyed about Carl's terrible thought process.

"Well then what about when he survives at the end of Season 3?" he asked sarcastically, and was mere centimeters away from Maxum's face. Maxum thought for a moment, then looked to Grace, who nodded.

"Obviously, there are many different reasons, but Maxum and I came up with an idea." Grace said.

"First off, someone had to have died that day, on the rooftop." Maxum added, and Al noticed they were suddenly talking like Simmons and Fitz did in Agents of Shield.

"Our theory is that Moriarty had a twin brother, Rich Brooks, and he was the one who died on the rooftop that day."

"They both planned it, so that Moriarty could plan to take down Sherlock- "

"And Sherlock could think he was dead."

"It's quite simple, really, and there is a lot of evidence towards it. Those times when Moriarty was flirting to Sherlock, and then other times he would begin to act just plain mean, yet clever."

Carl's jaw dropped at the two of them talking in rapid fire, figuring out the conspiracy behind Moriarty's death. Scorpius turned to Al.

"Have you watched The Abominable Bride yet?" Scorpius asked Al, who shook his head. Scorpius chuckled. "You have to watch it. I'll show it to you if we get a dorm room together." The boys laughed, and at this exact moment, Al realized that he and Scorpius were going to be like Uncle Ron and Harry, two inseparable best friends for life. James suddenly intervened.

"The house elf is here with lunch." he said, and mid-way through lunch, he began to munch on a burger. It was a good thing that the food on the Hogwarts Express was good, because everyone was starving and looked forward to a good meal. They devoured their lunch, and suddenly, everyone was in the mood for an evening nap. The third years all said their partings, and they all agreed to meet for tea and dinner before sleeping. Once they were out, a boy strutted into the first year's compartment, and he threw his hands into the air.

"Scorpius!" he yelled, and Scorpius blushed and ran over to him. They fist bumped, and the boy looked at the others in the compartment. "Your new friends, ey? Ditching me for Potter and Weasley. Wonder what your pops said about it, huh?" The boy had a strange accent, and Rose walked up to him.

"I know you." she said. "You're Blaise Zabini II, son of the first Blaise Zabini." she said. They hadn't broken eye contact.

"Yeah, I am. Rose Weasley, ey?" the boy smirked. "I've heard a lot about you. Your mum comes over for tea, and I go to your place, too." This time, Rose smirked too. Al brushed into the circle of conversation.

"Hold on, what's going on?" he said. "You both know this kid?" Rose sighed, and Scorpius laughed.

"It's a family friend of ours. Plus, Mr. Zabini works with Mrs. Weasley, they both work together on the house-elf rights. He's the one who convinced my dad to start paying the house elves." Scorpius bumped playfully into Blaise. "This kid here, though, he's a genius." Blaise nodded and smiled.

"Not really anything, I just like Wizardry-Enhanced Robotics. I made my own artificial intelligence, I named it after me and my pops, B.L.A.I.S.E. It stands for Bright Loving Artificial Intelligence Serving Everyone. A lot like F.R.I.D.A.Y or J.A.R.V.I.S, it's just to help me get stuff done when I'm feeling lazy, which happens a lot."

"Come on, Blaise," Rose said, "there is no way in hell that we can call you lazy after what you made. It's genius, most wizards can't even imagine it." At this, Blaise blushed.

"Hey, uh, I don't have a compartment claimed yet, can I stay here?" he asked. Rose and Scorpius nodded and looked at Al.

"Sure, I don't mind." Al said. "This kid seems pretty nice." Blaise was practically gleaming. He took his luggage and placed it on the bed. The colors turned blue and black, and his face was gleaming on the wall. There were all types of forms of computer code, with binary numbers and Macbooks all drawn on the wall. Blaise looked at the wall in wonder. Al wondered what his parents would say about having all these friends, many of them the kids of former Death Eaters. Suddenly, he thought of what his father had said to him last.

"The Sorting Hat takes your input, too." he had said. Harry always told him things that he never told James. Of course, Al knew that he would tell James things he had never told Al, and that Ginny knew Lily the best, especially with her always locked up in her room, but Al always thought that their parents knew them well. Better than others, in fact. He smiled at the thought of everyone in their family smiling together, and he went over to his shelf. A picture of his family, smiling and laughing about who know what, gave him warmth as his eyes drifted over everything. Then he heard the compartment door slide open, and he turned around.

 _It's that boy_ , he thought, _the one I saw in Ollivanders_. He walked over to him.

"My name is Lazarus Femun, and I hold my hand out to your allegiances." he said obnoxiously. Everyone stared at his hand. The boy began to fidget. "I'm letting you guys be my friends. Let's shake on it." he said, and Rose spat on the ground nearby him.

"You disgusting beggar!" he yelled. Scorpius became to get red in anger. "I'm the heir of the Femun throne, come on and take my hand. Or better yet, the important people here. Males are the dominant species."

Al, Scorpius and Blaise all gasped. They knew all too well not to anger Rose. Scorpius had heard about the stories from Al. Rose was staring at Lazarus with pure anger. Al thought of the last time she had gotten angry, and it hadn't ended well for anyone around.

It was her eleventh birthday, and James, being a complete git, decided to send a fake letter saying that she was a Squib, and would not be able to go to Hogwarts. Rose was shocked at the letter, and she had broken down in tears. James rushed over and told her it was just a joke. Rose looked at him with such rage that he backed away. She didn't even have to say anything; she jumped at him, tackled him, and started to punch him and claw him and try to rip out his hair. Everyone had to hold her back, and when she was done, she stomped away, leaving James with a couple of hair locks missing, which eventually grew back, and with a large scar on his chest, when she had scratched him.

The boys began to back away, and Lazarus sneered.

"Scared of a girl, are you? Not like your famous parents at all." he said. Rose was starting to walk up to him.

"Who are you, then? A Mudblood? I doubt that you're even a wizard at all, by your shabby looks." Lazarus was practically giving her reasons for her to attack him. Rose stopped and smiled.

"Actually, no, I'm a Half-Blood, my parents are kind of famous. They're Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, no sorry, Ron and Hermione Weasley, you know, Al's cousin." she started to get closer to him. Lazarus's smile was washed off, and she slapped him with all her might. He ran out of the compartment, whimpering, and everyone started to laugh so hard that their sides hurt.

"That was fun." Rose said, resulting in even more giggles. They all sat on their beds and talked for a bit, before deciding to watch TV again. This time, they put Al's favorite, Supernatural. Because Rose and Scorpius had never seen it before, Blaise (who was all caught up and loved SPN as much as Al) and Al decided to start from the first episode. The kids all enjoyed it, although they all agree that it was a good thing their parents weren't there to see them watching this obvious adult TV show. They watched for about two hours, finishing with the episode Dead In The Water, and then deciding to have a couple of snacks. Just when they all agreed on finding the candy trolley lady, she came to the doorway, serving all types of delicious wizard chocolates and gummies. In the end, they practically emptied the trolley, and the lady took out her wand, flicked it, and the whole trolley filled up again.

"Remember, don't eat those all at once." she said, in a kind yet croaky voice. "They are all very delicious, that I know for sure, but they can give a terrible stomach ache. I would say, save your money and let them last for the whole trip." The lady winked, before closing the compartment door and continuing on to the next compartment, which was the one James, Maxum, Grace and Carl were staying in. They just happened to see the window across, and saw Lazarus's head poking out, talking with a very smug looking girl, and two boys with serious looks on their faces.

"Who's sitting with him?" Blaise asked. Rose pulled out a large book that said "Wizard Directory" on the cover.

"The girl is Pansy Parkinson's first daughter, Dahlia." Rose said, while looking at the book. "Apparently, Pansy's been married five times, the first person she married was a kid our parents studied with, Cormac McLaggen. They were happy at first, but then something went wrong, and McLaggen saw Pansy stealing thousands of Galleons from him to run away with a man who would soon become her second husband, some Quidditch player. They divorced, and while Cormac is the nicest person you could meet, his daughter and ex-wife are just pure bullies." Scorpius nodded, obviously knowing this earlier, since he was family friends with Pansy.

"The boy is Gale Crabbe, Vincent Crabbe's son. Scorpius already knows him." Rose said, and looked at Scorpius, who was scowling.

"Yeah, I know him. His father is nice, really funny, one of my favorite family friends, but Gale is a complete git. He's absolutely idiotic and makes me want to vomit whenever I see him." Scorpius spat on the ground. Rose groaned. The floor was starting to get covered in their spit, and it was definitely not pleasing to look at.

"Anyways, the other boy, he's a low-rate Pureblood, Rolf Anderson. Their whole crew is absolutely retched, it's obvious." Everyone agreed with what Rose said. Eventually, they stopped staring and closed the door to watch some more Supernatural.

XXX

The rest of the day went by in a blur. They watched another three episodes, and stopped midway through "Hook Man" when James and his crew swaggered in, followed by about three house-elves, carrying their food.

"You know, my mum did a pretty good job with Mr. Zabini on the S.P.E.W. rights." Rose commented, while eating food that was absolutely delicious, roasted turkey, along with mashed potatoes and gravy. There were peas mixed in, and they were all served water and butterbeer, although there was a limit, much to Scorpius's disappointment. Once they finished, they watched Doctor Who for a bit, since Supernatural was far too scary to watch just before lights out. A house-elf came to tell everyone to go to sleep.

"Listen, I know it's a lot more fun to get an all-nighter, but the first, second and third years are all scattered across the train, and they're the only ones who don't get summer homework, since they aren't at all close to the O.W.L. exams." The house-elf noticed them sulking, and saw that Rose and Blaise were among them.

"Listen, since you two are the kids of the people who helped us house-elves have free lives and get to live as humans, and still do things we enjoy, I'll let you in on something." the house-elf shut the compartment behind him.

"The kitchen isn't locked, so if you guys go on ahead, then you'll get to have as much food as you want, just make sure to leave a note that it was you guys, and sign it as the Savior Avengers, so we house-elves don't get too mad. Also, there is a whole basket filled to the brim with Mufflers, so if you need one, it's in the fridge."

The house-elf scurried away, shutting the compartment door behind him. The lights began to flicker, and everyone nodded to each other.

They snuck down, into the kitchen, and ate all types of delicious desserts and delicacies, cakes and cookies, biscuits and bread. They stuffed themselves, and left a small note.

 _Dear House-Elves,_

 _The Saviors truly apologize for taking so much. We will make sure not to take so much next time, we just weren't able to eat the day before because of our excitement. By the way, we have left 200 Galleons under the sink, each of us put 25. Split it evenly amongst yourselves, no fighting._

 _~The Saviors_

The two groups of kids signed off just as the house-elf had told them to, and then snuck back to their compartment, which was very hard, considering all the wrappers sprawled on the ground, the creaking of the wood, and the dark pathways to their compartments. Once or twice, Scorpius, Blaise and Carl would stub their toe and wince in pain, and the rest of them would cover their mouths, continuing once they heard no more fidgeting in beds or the darkness of lights being turned out. When they reached their compartments, the four third-years immediately began to watch TV, that much was obvious, and the first-years laid on their beds, waiting for the first yawn of the evening to come. The dreadful topic of the Sorting of the Houses came up, even though Al knew he would be sorted into Gryffindor.

"I want to be in Gryffindor, but my parents want me in Slytherin!" Scorpius whined. Rose sighed. She hadn't contributed to the fact that Scorpius had problems with which house he wanted to be in, until then.

"Listen right now, Scorp, you going to live your own life, cast your own spells, brew your own potions, make the choices you want to make. Trying to impress your parents isn't going to get you anywhere. Not unless you want to become them, which I think that your parents would be perfectly happy if you were like Al, and they would still claim you the Malfoy heir."

Rose went back to reading, but Scorpius looked down, in deep thought. After five minutes of awkward silence, Blaise yawned, and everyone turned off their lights and laid down. Two snores immediately started, but Al noticed that Scorpius hadn't made any noise. He sat up, and saw his friend lying, eyes open, staring at the ceiling.

"Look, bud," Al said. "I want to impress my parents, too. Come on, my dad is considered the freaking Savior of the Wizard World. Who doesn't want to be like that? But the point that Rose made is right. Worrying about making your parents impressed by someone that they want you to be isn't going to be the same as them accepting who you are. If you let their judgement cloud yours, you aren't going to get anywhere. Take my advice, and think to yourself, 'I want to make my own choices. Whether or not they like it, because screw their judgement, I'm myself.' Telling yourself that, over and over again, will make you believe it, and then it'll become true. Trust me." Al smiled at Scorpius, who smiled back, before snuggling under his covers. He soon heard Scorpius's light snores, and eventually drifted off to sleep himself, dreaming about become the Savior of the Wizarding World.

Oh, how amazingly right he was.

 **Extra A/N: Lots of foreshadowing, and lots of references to the years of the Golden Trio. The next chapter is just their week on the trip, and it isn't anything important. It's a filler, so you guys will probably just skim past it. And sorry for breaking the format I said I would stick to, I guess that my OCD meds are starting to work more...**


	8. TV, Stomach Aches and Genius

**A/N: If you have been keeping up with my main tumblr ( .com), you'll know that I'm moving, and so I may not update for a while. This chapter came out late because of that reason. Sorry for skipping last week! I just had to turn in all of my tech that was issued, like my laptop, so I wasn't able to work on this until my stuff came in. Again, I'm really sorry!**

Chapter Eight: TV and Stomach Aches

They woke up to the banging of the main house-elf on their compartment door. Blaise got up and yawned, then opened the compartment door. The house-elf was smiling.

"Morning, kids! Hey, thanks for leaving the money underneath. Most people wouldn't do that. Anyways, I never introduced myself." the house-elf grinned. "I'm Flimsby. I'll be working at Hogwarts, since I'm the head House-Elf. Just call for me if you ever need anything, although all the house-elves know you guys. Especially you two."

Flimsby pointed to Rose and Blaise, who froze, now that they were in the spotlight.

"People say that the people you are seen with are the people who are most like you. Your parents freed many house-elves, and let us know how to live. Especially since we now get to have the same rights as other creatures. Also, tell your parents that all the creatures in the Forbidden Forest thank them for their work. It really helped them out." he smiled warmly at everyone, before there was knocking on the compartment door. Flimsby opened it to a very well dressed house-elf, standing politely, almost butler-like. The house-elf leaned in towards Flimsby and whispered something in his ear. When he leaned away, Flimsby whipped around.

"Well, it truly does seem like I will need to tend to other matters. Have a wonderful morning, and I will come around when breakfast comes around. Enjoy the free-time you have now, it will be gone soon." Flimsby winked, then left the compartment, closing the door behind him. Rose looked at Blaise, and the two started to blush.

"Our parents are pretty nifty, but I don't want to be judged for who they are." Rose said. Blaise nodded along with her. They all decided to watch Doctor Who, and watched all through the morning, when Flimsby came back around and had a huge smile on his face.

"We thought that, since you guys payed us so much for the food we were quite fine with offering to you, us house-elves decided to make you an extra-special breakfast. We made some for the others, too. They've already started to eat, so you guys can dig in. We've got hot porridge, pancakes and waffles, homemade syrup, sausage, eggs, bacon, and milk and orange juice, and everything is unlimited. I tried to get coffee for you guys, but there isn't a single coffee bean here, I swear." Flimsby seemed to be disappointed, but Rose's eyes were wide.

"We… we never get food like this…" Rose muttered, and Al remembered the times when the Great Wizard Depression came. It last for only a couple of years, but those were the worst years for Rose's family. The Ministry had lost everything; the Minister of Magic had not been elected, and there was no one to lead the wizarding world. Everyone had lost hope, and no one was willing to have to become Minister, after the previous Minister, Cornelius Fudge, had left the Wizarding World in tatters, without any proper protection, all those years ago. The Potters were living off of enough money to last them, but people like the Weasleys, who were only middle-class, were living off of things Muggles called food stamps, and they had to live in a cheap Muggle apartment. Only when Al reached nine years old (the Depression had lasted for three years), the Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt, came to power, and war heroes, like Harry, Uncle Ron, and Aunt Hermione were all working for the Ministry to make sure things like the Depression or the Wizard Wars never happened again. So far, they were doing a good job, and while their parents made lots of money now as Aurors and such high Ministry officials, Rose was still sensitive about what happened.

Rose finally cried. She had never been overwhelmed by so many emotions, and they all leaked out at once. It never hit her that Scorpius or Al or Blaise were watching; they all came to her side, rubbing her back and hugging her, and Rose began to cry on Scorpius's shoulder. She looked up at him. They had already begun to become incredibly close. They both knew what it was like to be misjudged for who your parents were. In fact, most of her friends had prestigious parents, but they were all misjudged. She began to cry even more, thinking about her parents.

"It's alright, Rosie." he said into her hair. About three inches taller than her, Scorpius and Rose were hugging so tightly, Al thought they looked sort of like a couple. Of course, they were only eleven, and had just met. It wasn't like they were just going to start dating about a month after they met.

Flimsby smiled a little bit. Al looked at him, and they held solid eye-contact for a bit before Flimsby spoke.

"You guys have more talent than most wizards do. One day, you guys are going to be some of the greatest wizards of your generation, and it won't be because of your parents. Now, that doesn't mean you won't get special privileges, but you will get many special treats, and sometimes, those treats will really help you. Trust me when I say that." Flimsby said. Everyone nodded their heads in response, letting him know that they understood what he was saying.

Flimsby bowed, and he left the compartment as about five house-elves entered, all carrying huge trays of pancakes, waffles, oatmeal, sausage, bacon, eggs, and all other types of breakfast foods. Rose immediately began to wolf down her servings, while Scorpius took some time chewing everything, enjoying his meal. Al and Blaise simply ate at a regular pace, hoping only to get their stomachs filled so that they wouldn't have to get up when they went to marathon their Sherlock episodes on the TV.

The moment the last crumbs were finished, the house-elves came in and grabbed them, one of them winking as he walked out. Rose stopped the last one and gave him 20 Galleons, this time five from each of the kids. The house-elf smiled at her, and they already knew that they would be getting some special treatment from the house-elves. _At least I've got some allies now,_ Al thought, and then took it back. He didn't want to start thinking like a Slytherin. Even after what his father had said to him, he wasn't going to become a Slytherin, he couldn't. There was nothing he truly despised more than becoming a Slytherin, even if his middle namesake was one.

Shaking his head to forget the thought, he walked over to the TV to watch something new. He turned to Rose, but she shook her head. Al looked to Scorpius, but he too shook his head, showing that he had no clue what they could watch while waiting for the third-years so that they could all marathon Sherlock.

"Hannibal?" Blaise said quietly. Everyone turned to him. "It shows Hannibal before everyone was all scared of him. He's a fictional character that Muggles made up, and he's actually in a book, I think it's called 'Silence of the Lambs' by Thomas Harris." Rose gasped and pulled out a book with a butterfly on the cover.

She stroked the cover art, and whispered something, and everyone could barely hear it.

"I've been waiting to read it." she had whispered. Opening to the first page, she sat down and began to read, and the boys looked at each other, shrugged, and decided to watch the TV show. Barely five minutes in, the Marauders, as James's crew called themselves, came in.

"Thought we'd come by to watch some Supernatural." James said, and Al saw that his hair was looking very handsome, and sticking up in some places. Grace was yelling at Maxum behind them, and Carl seemed to be trying to break up the fight.

"You took it!" she yelled.

"Why the hell would I take it? I'm not gay!" Maxum yelled back.

"Well, then where is it?"

"How am I supposed to know!?"

"You were the only one up late last night!"

"That's too bad, because I. Didn't. Take. It."

"Ladies, ladies, break it up!" Carl yelled. Maxum gave him a death stare before pouncing on him, and the two were in a strong mini wrestling match when Grace finally managed to get them off of each other, and gave them both strong smacks across the head.

"Don't you two _dare_ do that again. I care about you three," and she looked at James, "so much that it's probably unhealthy. If any of you get upset over something like this, don't even think about me hanging out with you guys again."

The boys immediately silenced and started muttering their apologies.

"That's better. Now, we were going to watch something?" she asked. Everyone nodded slowly and Blaise put on the morning comedy hits.

"Good, I want to know what stupid crap our favorite Muggles have gotten themselves into." Maxum said, which got him a smack on the arm.

"No cursing." Grace said. They watched as they made corny jokes and terrible puns, but everyone laughed, because they were all happy to at least be together.

XXX

They had watched TV for the rest of that week. They ate lots of food and used the Mufflers that the house-elves had left for them came to good use, as they were probably watching more TV than they should have. Lazily, their last day came along, and the house-elves came running around talking to students to get them prepared for the big day. Everyone had to stay in their compartments until they pulled in that night, so it was just Al, Rose, Scorpius and Blaise in the compartment.

"It's so boring!" Rose screamed into her pillow. She couldn't stand not being able to talk to her obvious new best friends. They were locked into their compartments, and even though the windows gave clear views outside, and they weren't isolated, but it still felt like they were locked in, and there was absolutely nothing to do. The TV and snack stache was boring compared to the adventures they would face in a couple of hour's time. Rose was practically dying on her bed, and Scorpius and Blaise were playing board games. Al was reading a book for once, but it was called "Uglies" by Scott Westerfeld. While it was really girly, it was the one time Al could enjoy a good book and not be called "gay" (the frequent nickname James came up with for Al). Rose was slammed her head on her pillow again, and each time, little feathers came out. Al looked out the window. Soon, they would be entering the place that Al had been dying to enter for eleven years. Now, though, it didn't seem as easy to go as he used to think. What if he got sorted into Slytherin, despite what his father had told him? What if he ended up being in a House that none of his friends were in? They would all be Gryffindors and he would be stuck as a Slytherin. Even Hufflepuff would be better than this.

He sighed and went back to reading. It was his escape from the real world, which rarely happened since he couldn't tolerate his older brother always bothering him. Al truly loved being swept up into a world where cupboards would travel you to Narnia, tributes would stand up to the Capitol, or surgery would make you a Pretty, or even a Special. Even if they were things that would almost never happen to him, they inspired him to continue.

He had just gotten to the part where Tally and Shay were soon to become pretties when the compartment door opened, and Flimsby walked in.

"Ok, boys, get their trunks." Flimsby barked at four house-elves. He then turned to the kids. "You've got to go see Slughorn. All four of you." he pointed a thumb into the hall. The kids set their stuff down and went into the hall. They saw James, Grace and Maxum walk out, but Carl didn't leave. Al walked with James, Rose walked with Grace, and Scorpius and Blaise walked with Maxum all the way down to a huge compartment door, and Flimsby ran his finger down the door. It opened, and showed a couple of kids. Rolf Anderson and Dahlia Parkinson were sitting at the table, and scowled at their crew walking in.

"Hello there, children!" a voice said behind them. The four kids turned around and saw an elderly man standing in the doorway, and he ushered the kids into seats.

"I'm Professor Slughorn, I suppose you have heard of me from your parents." Slughorn, who was sitting at the head of the table, saw James, Grace and Maxum.

"Ah, James Potter, I see you are back. Of course, you nearly broke my cauldrons last year, but that's all right, there isn't any rush to keep them well." At this, Slughorn, Grace, Maxum and even James laughed.

"Well, sir, I thought I would try and keep my things well this time. I brought a gold-pewter cauldron. It should be able to sustain my crazy ideas now." At this, Slughorn began to laugh even harder, but began to wheeze.

"Ah, children, truly sorry about this. I got attacked by some pesky Death Eaters, I think you heard about it some time during the summer. I have healed now, but an old man doesn't take things like that too well." Grace covered her mouth, and Slughorn gave out a small chuckle.

"Ah, sweet Grace Kim Merryfield. I truly did miss you, sweetheart. How are you?" Slughorn asked.

"Wonderful, sir. Although I believe I cannot say the same about you, professor. Are you sure you are alright?" she asked sweetly. Dahlia Parkinson gagged behind her, and Rose scowled at her with a look so terrifying, Al wasn't surprised that Dahlia immediately stopped gagging, but gave a slight death face back. Slughorn, meanwhile, patted Grace's hand.

"I am fine. An old and powerful wizard like me won't get hurt that easily by something as small as a Death Eater. Now, then, Maxum." Slughorn turned to Maxum, who was watching what was happening but hadn't said anything. He turned to Slughorn and smiled.

"Hey there, Professor." he said. "I believe the last time we chatted like this, lots of food was involved. Don't get me wrong, I love these meetings, but I am starving, especially since a certain friend of mine depleted my food supply." He looked at Flimsby, who was at the doorway. The house-elf laughed.

"Your snacks were, uh, _depleted_ because it is the last day. It's not like it's the Last Supper or anything, as you Muggle-borns call that tale in the Bible." Flimsby retorted.

"Doesn't stop my stomach from being a Black Hole."

At this, everyone laughed. Slughorn was pounding on the table, yet still laughing. Finally, everyone settled down. Dahlia was whispering something to Rolf, who laughed once she backed away.

Slughorn greeted several other students, none of whom were first years. There was a bunch of people that Al knew were the children of people his father studied with, such as Sean Finnegan, the second-year son of Seamus and Penny Finnegan in Gryffindor, Loris Thomas, daughter of Dean and Lorelai Thomas in Hufflepuff, Jenny Parkinson, who was the older sister of Dahlia in third year, Illiud Smith, the fourth year son of Zacharias and Constance Smith in Hufflepuff, and Lorcan and Lysander Scamander, the twin children of Luna Lovegood and Rolf Scamander, who were in their fifth year.

"Now then, let's converse with our first years." Slughorn announced, and turned to the side that Dahlia and Rolf were sitting on. "You are Rolf Anderson, I presume?"

"Yes, and my father wishes to tell you his gratitude for teaching him how to use wolfsbane and pigeon feathers for Veritaserum. His job in the Ministry really needed it." Rolf cleared his throat. "I hope to be like him one day, and maybe you can get me on that path?" Slughorn didn't seem too amused.

"Yes, I hope so. Although, your father only sells it on the Pureblood market, and for a very large price. Ask him to try and sell it in regular markets. Lots of Muggle blood has been spilled." Slughorn eyed Maxum and Grace.

"Anywho, let us continue. Dahlia Parkinson, correct?" he asked. Dahlia nodded.

"Professor, I have been _dying_ to meet you! My mother talks about you all the time, says you are the best Potions teacher she has ever had!" Dahlia put on a huge, yet fake, smile.

"Well, that is new. If I remember, your mother wasn't at all happy to find out I was the Potions teacher, and the Head of the Slytherin House, although she did behave when needed. If you are anything like her, though, expect a lot of point deduction from your House." Slughorn chuckled, and Rose smirked at the corner of Al's eyes when she saw Dahlia's smile disappear.

"Blaise Zabini II!" Slughorn cheered. "I loved your father like a son. He was one of my best students. Now he works in the Ministry, yes?"

"Yes, sir." Blaise replied. "He told me to make sure I behave myself in your class. Also, I do apologize, but I don't have the cauldron you asked for. We got a gold cauldron, and I know that we need those in fifth year."

"It's fine, child. I have plenty of extra cauldrons for potential star students like yourself. We can send an order in for a pewter. It's alright, though, because a golden cauldron early makes it easier later. Those things never rust very much." Slughorn chuckled. "Is there any chance your father is running for Minister of Magic?"

"Actually, yes, he is. He hopes that Mrs. Granger-Weasley will accompany him in this journey, for the sake of being able to change the Wizarding World." Blaise cheerfully said. Slughorn laughed.

"Well, won't that be an absolute delight!" Slughorn said. "Speaking of which, I believe you are Miss Rose Weasley, daughter of Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger?" Everyone's eyes turned to Rose, who was reading while all of this was happening.

"Um, yeah I am. My mum said that you would be the most amazing potions teacher that I would have the pleasure of knowing." Rose said. She sounded very lady-like, and Dahlia snorted, and exchanged a look with Anderson, who snickered obnoxiously. Rose gave another death glare, this time caught by Slughorn.

"Oh dear, won't you look at that! Real feisty, this one is. I'll bet you'll end up a lot like your mother, I promise you." Slughorn began to laugh, and after wheezing for a bit, turned to Scorpius.

"My dear boy, you must be Scorpius Malfoy." he said. Scorpius nodded slowly. "Well, trust me on this, your father may never have been my favorite, but he was better at potions than most. Make sure to tell him I send all my condolences. He has an important job, too, I suppose?" Al felt like laughing, he was just prying out all the important connections in the students. His father had warned him about Slughorn.

"Yes, uh, yes sir." Scorpius muttered. "My, um, father created Malfoy Industries, um, he wants me to inherit it, and I hope that I can take over once my dad's too old to. I've got a couple of ideas." Slughorn seemed more interested now.

"Ideas? Why, tell me about those, my dear boy!" Slughorn chortled.

"Um, well, most Muggle-borns get here, in the Wizarding World, and end up becoming some of the smartest people of the age. The problem comes when those horrible long-inherited purebloods start to make fun of them. Now, I may be pure-blood, but my parents taught me to respect everyone, including those who are more directly related to Muggles. I want to be able to create environments everywhere in the Wizarding World so that we can get new opportunities and prevent any bad situations. I know for a fact that one of the reasons that You-Know-Who came to power was because of his greed of becoming a pure blooded wizard. Perhaps, if more pure-bloods were alright with Muggle-borns, we might be able to prevent such dark wizards."

Everyone stared at Scorpius with their jaws dropped. Al, Rose and Blaise began to clap, and eventually everyone was, even Anderson and Dahlia were doing it, too.

"That was amazing, m'boy!" Slughorn said. Al patted Scorpius's back, and Rose tapped shoulders with him.

"Anywho, I hope that we can get to a very important person here now. Mr. Albus Potter, how are you today?" Slughorn asked.

Everyone's eyes trailed to Al, and the spotlight shone on him.


	9. Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts

**A/N: Hey guys! Sorry for the late update again, I am finding, like NO time. Sorting is going to be in the next chapter, because that is what we have all been waiting for, right?**

 **Also, I'm changing the age rating to Teen because of language coming up in later chapters and lots of new trigger warnings, because Rose's past haunts her and she goes to some extreme levels to get rid of the sadness. I might just update every two weeks or so, and it may no longer be on Fridays, so I hope you guys don't get too mad about that. There's still at least thirty or forty more chapters to go, so please don't be scared that I may stop here. I even intend on creating a sequel! Also, check out my Wattpad account, under the same name! I will update a lot on there, although my fanfictions on there may be just Supernatural, Doctor Who and Sherlock. All the Harry Potter stuff is on here.**

 **Now, let us begin this week's chapter!**

 **Warnings: Self-Harm (Mentioned), Suicidal Thoughts**

Chapter Nine: Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts

People in the compartment began whispering. The people who were the kids of the people his father knew stayed silent. James nodded to Al, which was their signal for "Don't stress out." Al took a deep breath, let it out, and began to talk.

"Hello, Professor. I've definitely heard a lot about you, mainly from Grace and James, but otherwise you've mostly been a man of idol to my father. He seemed to do better in Potions while you were the teacher, correct?" Al confidently said. Slughorn must have taken because he replied back cheerily.

"Of course, Albus. I hope you're just as good at Potions as your father. Tell your mother I said hi, I haven't talked to her in forever. It seems she doesn't need the Bat Boogey Hex as much as your father does nowadays, correct?" Slughorn chuckled. "Any ideas for what you want to become?"

"I'm not sure. Perhaps an Auror, like my father and uncle. Voldemort has had a lot of impact on my family, I think most of us know that." At this, most people laughed. Dahlia snorted, and Rose gave a final death glare. Dahlia stuck her tongue out, and whispered "mudblood" to Anderson. Al knew that something big was going to happen as Rose's anger boiled to her head.

"Anyways," Al continued, "I want to be able to make a difference in the world. Not just by a little bit. I think that being an Auror like the rest of my family would do a lot of good, and plus, it's always been my dream to be a hero, like my father." Slughorn clapped at this, although Al knew it was probably not as good as Scorpius's ideas. Everyone smiled at him, though, and James and Grace shared a look that showed proudness.

"Wonderful, m'boy!" Slughorn said. "Now, children, I think it's time that you all went back to your cabins. We're nearing the station soon, and you'll want to be there to take all those nice shampoo bottles they've got in the bathrooms!" Slughorn winked, then chuckled as everyone left the compartment.

Walking back, Blaise shivered and jabbed his thumb towards the compartment where Slughorn had taken them.

"Crazy old man, I'm telling you." Blaise whispered. Rose nodded, but Scorpius and Al thought to themselves that he wasn't all that bad. Then again, he was nicest to them.

"Anyways, we should probably go pack. We'll probably be the last ones out if we don't hurry." Al said. They raced to their compartment, but when they entered, they saw that the house-elves had already packed everything, and were guarding their stuff. Rose immediately went over and grabbed their bags.

"No no no no no no you are NOT doing this for us." Rose said. Flimsby chuckled then snapped his fingers. The bags went behind him, and the house elves moved closer together.

"Honey, it's alright. We want to do this, and we just want the pleasure of taking your stuff down to Hogwarts." Flimsby said. He smiled, and suddenly, Al felt like there was something strange about him. Not necessarily bad, just… _strange_. Something that was not there earlier. He just couldn't put his finger on it.

"Plus, Hagrid's going to lead you guys back, we just need to take your bags up. No one else's. Don't feel bad, we're all free elves, we just believe in Dobism." Flimsby smiled, then all the house elves snapped their fingers and disappeared before any of the kids could protest.

"What's Dobism?" Rose asked. Al shrugged, and Scorpius and Blaise said they didn't know either. "It's probably a house elf religion or something, although I could have sworn that I've heard that term from somewhere." For the rest of the train ride, they all talked about things like what they were going to do once they reached Hogwarts, although Dobism didn't leave Rose's mind easily. She would mutter the word here and there, although she eventually stopped once the topic of Sorting came up.

"I read about it in _Hogwarts: A History_ , mum let me buy it." Rose said. "It says that the Sorting is an expert way of deciding what House will best help the students reach the destinies they need to reach. Gryffindors are those who are brave, and will do what they need to for justice. Ravenclaws are those who are smart, and can use their wit to help themselves in any situation. Hufflepuffs are the loyal, and always stand beside their friends and are always willing to give themselves up for others. Slytherins are those of ambition, and use their cunning skills to get exactly what they want.

"Once a student has been Sorted, they stay in that house for all seven years, as you all already know, but also earn points for their House, and the House with the most points at the end of the year wins the House Cup. You can earn points from displaying good behavior, answering questions correctly, showing prior knowledge to the topic, and even winning things like Quidditch matches." Al and Scorpius exchanged looks. They absolutely _loved_ Quidditch, and always wanted to play for their Hogwarts teams.

The train came to a sudden stop, and a voice began talking on the loudspeaker.

"All students, please exit the train. First years must follow Hagrid, the gamekeeper, out to the castle. Second to fourth years must go to the back entrance for proof of passing their previous years. Fifth years must report to the east entrance and walk up to their O.W.L. presentation lab. Sixth years must head to the dining hall for N.E.W.T. speeches. Seventh years must report to their common rooms for important instructions from their Heads of the Houses."

The four kids in the compartment nervously headed down the hall, and stepped off of the Hogwarts Express. The cold, damp night air was blowing a slight wind through their hair, and the first years did as they were told and walked towards the giant man that Harry had described as Hagrid. He had a shabby beard, hair everywhere on his face, and the most bushiest eyebrows you can imagine. Along with all this, he was the most largest man Al had ever seen. He turned to face his friends, and they all agreed that Hagrid was quite the strange man. It was hard to imagine him as the chumpy gamekeeper that their parents said he was.

"Is that Albus Potter?" Hagrid yelled towards Al's direction, although he had so much hair on his face that his beady eyes were hard to see from afar. Al waved, and so did Rose and Scorpius, and Hagrid quickly ran towards him, almost stomping on all the first years between them. Lazarus fell over into a huge puddle of mud, and Gale fell over into a water puddle that looked more like vomit that water. Dahlia got drenched in both liquids when the boys fell over, and Rolf quickly ran off before Dahlia started screaming. Hagrid didn't seem to notice, though. All the first years kept walking after Dahlia stopped shrieking and simply whacked her friends with sticks and stones. Lazarus and Gale snorted before walking. Hagrid had reached the kids by now and took Rose in one hand and Al in the other and hugged them both close to his huge abdomen.

"I've heard much 'bout you two! If yer anythin' like yer parents, yer the best kids this year, I promise!" Hagrid happily chortled. "Come on, yeh've got ter go ter the castle, yeh've got ter meet all the teachers, oh, Minerva's gonna be so proud of yer lot, all back here!" Hagrid continued talking to himself while running up to the lake where they were to cross. He had run all the way there when he realized that he was still holding Rose and Al in a death grip, and the two students were coughing and red in the face. Hagrid apologized and then let them both go.

"Just get into one of the boats there, you guys can choose what other two people will sit with yeh." Hagrid said before running off to his own huge boat. Al and Rose quickly claimed a boat and Scorpius and Blaise followed them in.

"Alright, yeh've all got ter just sit down and relax, the boats will start once everyone's in." Hagrid yelled over all the loud first years. Several fought over seats, some girls were trying to claim the boats next to Al's. Even though the boats only seated four, at least sixteen girls were clawing their way to a seat. Hagrid groaned, got out of his boat and walked towards the girls.

"Alright, who was here first?" he asked. All the girls shot their hands into the air. Rose stifled a giggle and a few of the blondes gave her a death stare, which she simply stuck her tongue out at. Scorpius shook his head in disapproval at the girls. Al actually didn't laugh; all he did was stay quiet and simply smile at Hagrid. A couple of the girls pointed to themselves then blushed when Blaise shook his head and pointed to Hagrid.

Finally, four of the girls went to another boat and simply waved to Al before bursting into laughter and running off. Hagrid pulled out a pink umbrella and looked around before muttering, "can't hurt… Ministry shouldn't be _too_ mad at me for this… plus 'arry might back me up…" and then pointed towards the twelve girls left fighting for seats.

" _Verita Lang!"_ Hagrid yelled. All the girls screamed and shut their eyes. Seeing as nothing happened to them, they opened one eye and giggled before staring up at Hagrid.

"Now, I'll ask this question one more time before none of you get to sit next to Albus. Who. Was. In. The. Boat. First. Raise yer hand." Now, none of the girls raised their hands. There was a lot of shuffling and muttering, and the girls all moved to show four boys all trampled over and raising their hands. Hagrid jabbed a finger towards the boats at the other side of the lake, and all the girls groaned before leaving. Most of them waved towards Al, and once again, erupted into giggles.

"Blondes, I hate them more than I hate Parkinson." Rose muttered. Al and Scorpius laughed. Blaise was talking to B.L.A.I.S.E. and asking so many questions that the tiny voice didn't seem like to answer them all.

"Sir, all those questions will be momentarily answered at the castle. Do not fret, there should not be any concerns regarding your safety. Sir, I may break if you do not stop asking so many worried questions."

Blaise sighed before shutting off his machine. He turned to see the other kids in the boat with astonished looks on their faces.

"He's the work of my life. I've probably become closer to B.L.A.I.S.E than I have to you guys, and you guys are my best human friends." Blaise said. At this, everyone laughed.

"Alrighty then, first years, yer off ter get ter the castle in a couple minutes. If any more bunching happens, I swear, none of you are going to make it halfways across the lake. Don't. Pull. Another. Stunt. Understood?" Hagrid gave such a strict stare that all the kids responded with "yes, sir." Even the Femun Crew.

"Alrighty, now, if you've chosen yer boats, all yeh've got ter do is jab yer finger forward and yell 'Onwintus!' Now, don't yell 'Onvintoos', 'cause that's the spell fer blowing up trees. And yer in boats, so don't do that. Now, go on, I'll catch up to yer lot once there isn't anyone else on the train." Hagrid yelled to all the first years. Many kids started talking at once.

"'Ey, no jibber-jabber! I've got no time fer yer rubbish, we've got ter get there soon. Don't start talking, yeh've got all night and most of tomorrow ter der that." Hagrid shouted quickly. All talking stopped. "Go on, yeh've got ter get there soon! Did yeh not listen ter a single word I said? Mad kids, I tell yeh, mad…" Hagrid began muttering under his breath, but no one could hear since all the kids were yelling "Onwintus!" as loud as they could.

Rose did the spell, since she was most educated in that field, and their boat was sent forward. It was one of the few that did. A couple kids started screaming, and they could hear Hagrid yelling and shouting too.

"I told yer lot not to say Onvintoos, I told yer lot, but nope, don't listen ter the half-giant, don't listen to the one person here who is actually PAID and was TRAINED ter do this. I swear, they get a worse batch every year." Hagrid raged at no one in particular. Al felt like he was right. His dad had never said that girls would act like _that_ to him, or that everyone would be so ignorant. Deciding to ask James about it, he turned to see Blaise listening to Scorpius and Rose talk. They were at the front of the boat, which was about three feet longer and wider than a rescue boat.

"Hey, how did you use that spell? Without your wand?" Scorpius asked.

"Well, some spells can be said without wands. For example, _Accio_ , the spell for 'Retrieve' can be said without a wand, and non-verbally. We'll learn about those spells in fifth or sixth year, although it really is a tad bit hard to do them. I tried a couple on the train, but all that's worked so far in Onwintus, which means onward, and that's worked only now. I think the boats are enchanted to go forward at certain spells, Onwintus included, so I'm not sure it counts, though." Rose replied without even looking back at him. Scorpius shrugged and went back to simply talking to Blaise about Hogwarts. Apparently that was the new main topic of discussion; houses, classes, friends, Hogwarts, pranks, trouble, extra-credit, enemies, crushes. Al walked to Rose. He knew she liked book references a lot.

"I feel infinite." he said. Rose smiled and turned to him. Al smiled back. He noticed how beautiful his cousin was under the moonlight, in her black robes, in her colorless tie, which would change to their House colors after the Sorting. He wondered how such a beautiful girl could be so broken inside. She smiled on the outside, but he knew that she still made marks with pens on her arm to make herself feel better about the cuts she used to make. He knew that somewhere inside, there was still the self-hate that she used to have gleaming out. He knew that she would never be the same, or maybe it's because she has always been like that, for as long as he could remember. Just silently suffering.

Tears formed in Rose's eyes, and Al hugged her as she cried into his shoulder. Scorpius came over and rubbed her back, and she looked at him with wet eyes. Girls at another boat were pointing at her in envy and making obviously rude remarks about her. Another boat was covering their mouth and talking to each other. Al had seen them on the train. They were all really smart, and kind of strange. Definitely Ravenclaws, he had thought to himself. Perhaps they would all be like Mrs. Scamander, Lorcan and Lysander's mother.

Rose finally wiped her eyes and waved them off. Al was about to sit with Scorpius and Blaise before she grabbed his hand. Al turned and saw her smiling.

"Thanks. For always being there. You're a brother to me. Family doesn't end in blood, and even if that's a reference, it's the most appropriate one right now, because just because you are my cousin, it doesn't mean that I care about you almost as much as I care about Hugo or Mum and Dad. So thank you. You've been there when no one else has."

Al almost cried, but knew that this wasn't the time to. He simply hugged Rose, and heard a bunch of girls in other boats screaming at Rose to let go of Al. Most of them started cursing. Others called her things that were definitely not words eleven-year-olds should be screaming in front of a caretaker (everyone had gotten into a boat, and Hagrid had caught up to them).

The boat ride after that was mainly just silence. People were too nervous about the year in front of them to talk. One boy tried to steer the boat around, but the moment he changed the direction, it would whip back around at full speed, and the people in the boat would throw up over the side of the boat. Eventually, Hagrid started yelling at them to stop turning the boat around, or he would keep to his promise of making sure they didn't make it to the castle if they were showing immature behavior. After that, there wasn't much more misbehavior.

They pulled up to a stop in front of the castle, and Hagrid took out his umbrella.

"Now, I'll count ter thirty. If yer not out of yer boat, they yer outta luck, 'cause I'm casting a send-back spell, and yeh're going back with it. They might pick yer lot up tomorrow morning." Hagrid chortled. All the first years froze. Hagrid stopped laughing and attempted covering it up with a cough. "I'm joking, they take a role call of yer lot, they won't let me so much as breathe if you guys get sent back and it's on me. Although please, don't diddly-daddle or jibber-jabber. I've got so many classes ter teach tomorrow morning that it's probably unhealthy. Don't. Misbehave. Understood?"

All the students nodded their heads vigorously, and streamed out of their boats. Once everyone was off the boats, Hagrid did a check to make sure no one was hiding out. At least twelve kids were caught, and that was only the ones that Hagrid yelled over. Once everyone was definitely out of their boats, Hagrid yelled "Refertundis!" and all the boats sailed backwards. A couple of kids wailed at the nervousness of staying at the school. Anderson was one of them.

XXX

The kids had all entered the castle. There was a very strict woman and a handsome man standing at the entrance to the Great Hall, pointed out by a large sign above the double-doors. The woman was old, and had glasses that were metal-rimmed, along with ginger hair with gray strands and an old, wrinkly face. The man was very, very attractive. Al and Rose knew him as Mr. Longbottom, or Professor for them during the school-year. He was tall, much taller than the ginger woman, and had brown hair and a big, dopey smile plastered on his head.

"Welcome to Hogwarts, my friends!" he cheerily said. Most of the kids who walked in began to cheer as loudly as they could, although Al saw, out of the corner of his eye, the Femun group simply sulking there. Apparently, they actually went by the Immortal Children, although Al believed being immortal is something that shouldn't be desired. You would lose all you love, and as the world evolves, you would still be the person who people were a long time ago. Along with that, it doesn't make you invincible, and you would lose all of your physical appearance and probably look worse that the dirt on the sidewalk. Al redirected his attention to Professor Longbottom.

"I'm Professor Longbottom, the Assistant Headmaster here at Hogwarts, and I hope that you truly enjoy the chapters of your life that we are able to give to you. There is a lot of gain available during the next seven years, but at the same time, misuse your available resources, and you may not even last the next seven years, much less the real world. Be sure to follow all rules that are stated by the Heads of Houses, who you will meet shortly, and be willing to learn here, for a great adviser of mine once said that if you listen to argue, you will never learn. If you listen to learn, you arguement seems stronger. I suggest that if you intend on pulling any tomfoolery, be sure to make it something that we don't intend to count as an obstacle in your learning.

"Now, I know I scared you with that, but it is important. I hope that you all learn to have fun here, too. Many kids think there is not any difference between fun and troublemaking. Magic is something that people bend to become fun. Hopefully, you become great witches and wizards by first learning and then having enough fun to put smiles on your faces.

"The pressing matter on your mind, however, may be what House you are Sorted into. Inside, there will be a Sorting Hat. It intends on guiding you to the correct house in order to become truly successful with magic. All you have to do is walk up to the stool it is on, and plop the Sorting Hat onto your head. Once you have done that, the Sorting Hat will take care of the rest. Please don't do what I did as an eleven-year-old and walk off with the Hat, because we have a strangely large batch of kids this year. We only have until tomorrow morning, and sometimes the Hat can be… stubborn.

"Now, off to the Great Hall, my children!" Professor Longbottom finished and then opened the doors to the hall. It was larger than any room Al had ever seen. There were four long tables, and at the head of those tables were a teacher. For one, the one all the way to the left, was a table with a silver crest above it. There was a silver snake, and around it were green and silver in a checkered pattern with four squares. Many of the kids were talking to themselves, all carrying a depressed sense around with them. The Head of the House was Professor Slughorn, who smiled at many of the first years. A couple waved to him, obviously after reading about him in the papers, and he waved back, although he seemed to be more interested in the kids he had elected for the Slug Club. When he spotted Al, Rose, Scorpius and Blaise, he waved to them frantically, and they waved back.

The table to the right of the Slytherins was a bit more cheery. Above it was a yellow crest, and it had a badger that was black on it. There was the same checkered pattern, although the colors were yellow and head of the table was a young man with blue hair and hazel eyes. Seeing Al and Rose, he smiled. The two cousins felt like running towards him. It was Teddy Lupin. They knew better than to run towards him, although he would definitely come by them later. They waved frantically towards him, and he gave a small wave back.

"Who's that?" Scorpius asked.

"That's our cousin's fiancee. He's a family friend, we really like him. He's also my god-brother." Al said. Scorpius' eyes bulged.

"Isn't he a bit too young to be a teacher?" Scorpius asked.

"Well, he's twenty years, so he can still get a job, but yes, he is a lot younger than most teachers. The reason for that is because he is very skilled in many fields, Transfiguration and Potions included. He plans to become an Auror one day, like his parents, but in the meantime, Headmistress McGonagall asked him to become a professor here. She actually used to teach Transfiguration until she became headmistress. Teddy actually has all the credentials to become an Auror, but Uncle Harry said that he couldn't become one until at least twenty five, because only Uncle Harry and my dad were the exceptions. He also doesn't want to become an Auror until he's married Victoire, my cousin, because then he would be taken off the team, while he tries to plan the marriage and so and such. The point is, until he's married and his life seemed settled down for him, Teddy, I mean Professor Lupin, doesn't want to become an Auror. Plus, a teaching job is a well-paying job. Oh, over there, at the Ravenclaw table is Victoire. She's really smart, and most people try to hit on her, though she's always loyal to Teddy." Rose replied in practically one breath.

The first years all lined up in front of the stool where the Sorting Hat was placed. They were put into one line, and the Sorting Hat opened it's mouth.

 _Oh you may not think I'm pretty,_

 _But don't judge on what you see,_

 _I'll eat myself if you can find_

 _A smarter hat than me._

 _You can keep your bowlers black,_

 _Your top hats sleek and tall,_

 _For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat_

 _And I can cap them all._

 _There's nothing hidden in your head_

 _The Sorting Hat can't see,_

 _So try me on and I will tell you_

 _Where you ought to be._

 _You might belong in Gryffindor,_

 _Where dwell the brave at heart,_

 _Their daring, nerve, and chivalry_

 _Set Gryffindors apart;_

 _You might belong in Hufflepuff,_

 _Where they are just and loyal,_

 _Those patient Hufflepuffs are true_

 _And unafraid of toil;_

 _Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,_

 _if you've a ready mind,_

 _Where those of wit and learning,_

 _Will always find their kind;_

 _Or perhaps in Slytherin_

 _You'll make your real friends,_

 _Those cunning folks use any means_

 _To achieve their ends._

 _So put me on! Don't be afraid!_

 _And don't get in a flap!_

 _You're in safe hands (though I have none)_

 _For I'm a Thinking Cap!_

All the kids stared at the Sorting Hat. Professor Longbottom clapped twice, and everyone's attention was directed to him.

"Students, we will now begin the Sorting. We will start from the beginning of the alphabet and end with the end of the alphabet. The Sorting may take longer than we predict. We do have until tomorrow morning, which may seem like a long time, but the Sorting Hat will not tell any more House choosings tomorrow unless we get everything done, pip pip. Now, please stay in a single-line formation, and we shall begin the Sorting." Professor Longbottom smiled. Al felt Rose's hand grasp his, and he looked at her. She had grasped his hand and Scorpius'. They were all shivering, and Al closed his eyes as the first name was shouted out.


	10. The Sorting of the Houses - Part One

**A/N: Look, guys. I've got a new fanfiction, it's called Secrets, a Destiel one on Wattpad that I may upload onto here sometime, that I've been putting a lot of effort into nowadays. I want to just say I'm sorry that I wasn't paying as much attention to this fanfic, and I hope you guys like this chapter. The next one will be better (and longer, but the last chapter was really long, so let me be) and have a lot more quality. I may rewrite this one. For now, I'm planning on holding this one off for a bit. I hope you guys enjoy, and I'm sorry for the low enthusiasm.**

"Anderson, Rolf!" Professor Longbottom shouted. Anderson was shaking so much that he looked more like a blurry outline of himself rather than an actual person. Professor Longbottom lowered the hat onto Anderson's head, and it stayed there for about five seconds before yelling "Slytherin!" out loud for everyone to hear. The whole table of Slytherins began cheering. For once, they were actually lively. All the names went straight through, and Al's heart pounded as they got closer and closer to the P's. It turns out all of the Femun crew ended up in the Slytherin. Of course, they hadn't found out about Parkinson, but still.

"Malfoy, Scorpius!" Professor Longbottom yelled out. His face seemed to get a bit angered when he read the name out. He almost glared at Scorpius as the blonde boy walked up to the Sorting Hat. Longbottom picked up the hat and Scorpius sat on the stool. The angered teacher plopped the hat on kid's head, but suddenly, and obviously unexpectedly, the hat stayed on. Murmurs and whispers rang out throughout the whole hall.

"The Malfoy always get into Slytherin."

"Yeah, but it also gets decided immediately."

"It's taking longer than ever."

"You think he'll end up in another house?" someone said. Right after they said that, the House yelled something no one expected.

"GRYFFINDOR!" The hat yelled. Everyone stared at the hat with open mouths. For the whole Malfoy bloodline, everyone ended up in Slytherin. Even in the Greengrass bloodline. No one could believe it. Al and Rose looked at each other and smiled. They slowly started clapping for The Gryffindors suddenly began clapping. First it was James, then Grace, then Carl and Maxum, and suddenly all the seventh years, and slowly the whole table was erupting in cheer. Longbottom's jaw almost hit the floor. The other houses began clapping, too. Even Slytherin. Scorpius took the hat off and handed it to Longbottom, who put the hat back on the stool. He then shook his head and began clapping. The whole Hall was clapping for Scorpius.

"Ok, ok, that's enough." Longbottom finally said. All the cheering and clapping quieted, and he yelled out the next name.

"Mindus, Polyer!" he yelled out, and the boy right in front of Al walked up. Suddenly, he was brought back to reality. What if Al didn't end up in Gryffindor. Dahlia Parkinson ended up in Slytherin, just like the rest of the Femun crew.

"Potter, Albus!" Longbottom yelled. He seemed to start glowing at this, and everyone parted for Al to go forward. Al, meanwhile, felt his legs go weak, and walked up to the stool. The He sat down, and felt his heart pounding in his chest. Whispers rang out throughout the whole Hall, about whether or not he would get in Gryffindor, or if he would end up in Slytherin. Longbottom lowered the Hat onto his head, and Al's heart pounded so quickly he thought he was going to have a heart attack. Once the Sorting Hat was on his head, all noise outside was blocked out.

" _Um, Mr… Sorting… Hat, I guess, um, do you mind if I could ask a favor for a moment?" Al thought in his head._

" _Absolutely. I could sit here all night on your head. Your house is something that will change your fate forever. Take your time. Tell me everything you need to." The Sorting Hat replied in a very soothing, gentle-manly voice._

" _Ok, my friends are all going to be in Gryffindor. They're all amazing, and you saw Scorpius. He's always wanted to impress his parents, and he ended up in Slytherin. I want to be in Gryffindor." Al thought._

" _Your father, and your grandfather, and your brother, have told me all of this. They've wanted to become like their friends. Or at least they thought. The truth is, you are Slytherdors. That means you could be in Gryffindor or Slytherin. Both houses are perfect for you. The difference is that your family has always made the decision of Gryffindor. I expect that one day, there will be a change, but in the distant future. The truth is, I would love to shout out Slytherin, but Gryffindor is the only house that will let you guys be as successful as you have become. You don't have to thank me. I'll make the same choice I've made for the past, oh, one hundred years. Ever since old crackhead Potter came along. My, my, you'll make an amazing wizard if you're anything like your predecessors."_

With that, the Sorting Hat yelled nice and loudly, the House that Al was going to be in.

"GRYFFINDOR!" the Hat yelled. Longbottom took the Hat off for Al, and the whole Hall burst into cheers. Even the Slytherins. They seemed strangely… _jolly_ , all of a sudden. Al smiled so widely he thought his cheeks would rip. Waving to everyone, he handed Longbottom the hat and jogged over to the seat next to Scorpius. They laughed and high-fived before half of the table started cheering.

"BOTH THE POTTERS!" they yelled. "WE'VE GOT BOTH THE POTTER'S LOT!"

"Good job, Albus!" Grace and Maxum yelled to Al. He waved to them. James walked over.

"Hey, uh, Scorpius. I'm happy you got into the house you wanted to get into." James said. Carl clapped his shoulder.

"Nice job, there, Malfoy." he said. The third years all slid over.

"Hey, we've come up with a name." Maxum said. "The New Marauders." He made a gesture in the air. Al nodded.

"Sweet. It's a cool name. Our trio might just be the 'New Golden Trio'. We're all sticking up to standards." Al said. Scorpius agreed.


End file.
